Tora Kiba
by correct horse
Summary: Welcome to the Warring Nations Era, a time of great Generals, legendary warriors and immense battles. Naruto Uzumaki aims to become the most powerful General of them all, facing down great numbers and perilous battlefields along side his unit.
1. Prologue: The Plan

_Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. _  
- Sun Tzu, _The Art of War_

* * *

War councils are a rare thing in Konohagakure, a symptom of the the system which was put in place by the Nidaime Hokage in order for Hi no Kuni to wage war effectively, but they did happen when the necessity was clear. Indeed, to the old warrior sat at the round table the need for the meeting was clear. Before him sat the three military pillars of Hi no Kuni, making the dark room in which they sat one of the most dangerous rooms in all of the nation.

A silence reigned between the four after the other three, evidently younger, people at the table had settled down. It had been a long time since they had seen one another, many battles fought individually with plenty of tales to tell. A rather bittersweet feeling pulled at the back of Hiruzen's mind, the nostalgia of those days proving to only remind him of how old he was getting. Reaching up, he grabbed his triangular hat with calloused, wrinkled fingers, settling it down on the table.

"I suppose we should get started." The three nodded, the only woman of the group wearing a grin which could only be described as feral. With their attention, he continued. "It has been almost three years since we last met like this, and word has it that we are under similar circumstances as that time" Something ever so slightly shifted in the darkness surrounding the lit table, perhaps not physically but emotionally. Were this a room of lesser men (and women), they would not have noticed, but the reason for it was clear to those at the table. It was not just four people in this room. A hum and a grunt of confirmation came from the wild-looking woman and a man who seemed to have a pineapple for hair.

"I would have each of you state your name and rank, for the record." A formality, one which drew a quiet groan from the sharp toothed woman and the pineapple head. The Hokage nodded his head to the serious looking, if bored, man to begin.

He shut his eyes, letting out a light sigh. "Shikaku Nara. General of Hi no Kuni, Western Borders." He didn't sound all too amused either, as if he was forcing himself to speak those few words. The Hokage nearly shook his head. Nara was a man worthy of his rank and the respect, but his conduct could use some work. However, eccentric is what the position of General seemed to attract, within all nations.

The brown haired woman tilted her head, her grin reignited at the opportunity to introduce herself. "Tsume Inuzaka, General of Hi no Kuni, Northern Border." There was a certain loudness and rough edge to Tsume's voice which carried through the room, bringing with it her seemingly inescapable presence. Indeed, Tsume was the picture image of a frontline charismatic General, unlike her fellow General Nara. The Hokage turned his head to the last member, who had remained very still and quiet through out. As expected from this one.

"Kakashi Hatake. General of Hi no Kuni. East Borders." The silver haired man flicked the gaze of his singular eye between the two generals at either end of the table and the Hokage before him, the other eye obscured by a white, porcelain mask resembling a dog seemingly clinging to one side of his face.

The Hokage nodded. That was that out of the way, now to address the issue. "Thank you, you three, for coming today. I hope this meeting will simply not be a result of an old mans paranoia, but as of late there have been reports of movement along all three borders." He paused, taking in the reactions of his three Generals. Tsume, ever tactless, confirmed his words as her grin faded somewhat, taking on a more business-like look. The wrinkles at the side of Hiruzen's aged face creased even more as he squinted. "This meeting has been called to consider the eventuality of a three-pronged invasion, in order to properly read the signs of a possible attack. I do not want a repeat of the Kyuubi-Mist invasion." He finished, his role of father figure and kind old man having been put aside for that of the God of Shinobi, Hiruzen. There was a large amount of independence granted to the three Generals of Fire, allowing them to defend and attack as they saw fit. This often left the old Hokage out of the loop, only picking up on the occasional report from the borders. This time, however, he needed to hear it directly from them.

"General Hatake, report." He shot a look to the youngest general, who nodded in return.

"No movement from Yu no Kuni. Oto no Kuni, though...it's as we feared, Hokage. Our spies have noticed a large shift of soldiers to the Hi-Yu border, and the establishment of several military camps." Not a good start. The Hokage rest an elbow on the red oak table, rubbing his chin.

"Numbers?"

"Approximately 20,000." The Hokage nodded, a few things coming to mind. Hatake definitely outnumbered that force, but that was all the more reason to be wary of this move.

"Orochimaru wouldn't fight a battle he knows he definitely could not win. He has a few edges on you when it comes to experience, but that won't save him from raw manpower." Shikaku was the one to put the unspoken question into the air, his focus on Kakashi. Hiruzen nodded.

"Indeed, General Nara. Orochimaru is up to something, then."

"And water's wet. " Tsume snorted, crossing her arms. The Hokage let out a sigh. She certainly was not wrong. Hiruzen's former student was a schemer, all this did was indicate that a scheme was in play.

"We will return to this in a moment. Inuzaka, report."

"Mmh. What's there to say? Been about as interesting as a rock up there." The Inuzaka snickered, her pun not going unmissed by the other three, just unappreciated. The flat gazes were enough to make even her reel back a little. "Alright, alright. Tough crowd. In all seriousness, though, nothing too interesting to report. Taki's been keepin' to themselves, as usual, and there's been no Iwa activity in Kusa recently. All they've been doing is shoring up their own defences, like they're the ones expecting to be invaded. From what I've heard recently, I wouldn't be trying to test their defences without getting a look at them personally, first."

A positive report of sorts. "Very good. Be cautious though, General Inuzaka. In the event of conflict breaking out with Oto, it would be unwise to divert any forces to aid them, not while Iwa has their borders well protected." A nod and grunt of confirmation, and it was onto the last report. Shikaku rubbed the back of his head, eyes lidding. Hiruzen could already tell this wasn't going to be good.

"Kaze no Kuni has sent several forward groups to attack our outposts on the borders. They broke the truce. No large scale fighting as of yet, just jabs. They're testing our defences, and being real pains in general." The Hokage brought his fingers to steeple together, shutting his eyes. This was unexpected.

"The fuck? I thought we had a good deal with them!" Tsume growled out, baring her fangs to no one in particular. "You even made nice with the Yondaime Kazekage and their Daimyo!" She directed to Hiruzen, who merely stared forward.

While it was not clear on the exterior, Hiruzen was just as outraged as the Inuzaka. There had been a rather beneficial truce in place, allowing for rather fruitful trade routes between the two nations. Kaze no Kuni had the problem of having a lot of some resources, but lacking in many others. Wood, for example, was actually quite the luxury, but the nation was well known for its medicines, gold and other minerals. A pang of sadness hit the old man. Perhaps it was naive to believe that trade agreements would be able to stop what had been the norm since before he was born.

"It matters not, General Inuzaka." He did not allow his personal feelings to reflect in his tone, speaking in a strong, stern tone. "Then, we have come to the true purpose of this meeting." Kakashi and Shikaku perked up, the latter raising a brow in curiosity. "The signs are clear, Generals of Hi no Kuni. We may be facing two large scale invasions, soon in the future. So I ask you, how long do we have to prepare?" The Hokage sat up right, his gaze passing over each of the Generals, a momentary silence falling over them…

"A year." As expected of Shikaku Nara, the shadow user spoke with certainty. "Give or take a few weeks. Sunagakure is trying to get an idea of how strong we are, and how they should prepare. It's been a while since we faced them in the open field, after all." Hirzuen grunted. A good decade and a half, more like. "They've probably already sent spies to make sure their maps are correct. They'll be looking to take the city of Hanabira from us, if they make a push."

"Makes sense. If Hanabira is taken, the northern region of Kawa is an easy annex. From there, they could launch a campaign to hit Konoha and Amegakure as well." Kakashi added with an approving nod, finding Suna's potential plan to be sound. "I wouldn't be surprised if Oto and Suna are working together in this. My army is ready to defend whenever, but I would say a year as well. 20,000 is too small a number to effective invade with."

"Look at you guys, getting all the fun while I'm stuck up north watching rocks. Where's the fun in that?" Tsume pursed her lips, pouting in a very unfitting manner. Hiruzen let out a chuckle, easing the mood within the room.

"You know what they say, Tsume. Boring is good." Shukaku sounded convinced by this saying, rubbing the back of his head. If the Third had to hazard a guess, the Nara patriarch wished he could be in Tsume's position right now.

Tsume sent a look to the Nara, causing him to wave her off. "Shit, a year though…" Tsume slumped forward, a frown making its way onto her face. "My son graduates from the academy in a year."

Things became a lot more tense from there. Hiruzen closed his eyes, an all too familiar feeling of guilt presenting itself once again. Child soldiers were employed by all nations, although it was expected of young ninja to answer the call more so than conscripts.

"We're on the same boat, Tsume." Shikaku looked off into the darkness surrounding the lit table. "Shikamaru's in your son's class, I think." The Nara was good at masking concern, but it simply didn't work this time. Hiruzen looked to Hatake. He had been perhaps the youngest person in the history of the Nations to take up the mantle of General.

"The concern you feel now is the same one we have all caused our parents in the past. That is why it is imperative that we win these battles in this room, right now, so that your children, and the children of others, may return home and bring pride to their parents and family names." Tsume nodded, a look of fierce determination marring her face. The Inuzaka was outclassed by the likes of Hatake and Nara when it came to strategy, especially the latter, but she had her own intuitive genius when it came to battles. One she intended to try and use to help her fellow Generals.

Shikaku's hand planted itself on the table, and he stood, looking over at the other three planners.

"Well then, if we're getting ready for war, I may have a few suggestions..." Hiruzen smiled. As expected of General Nara.

While the highest military authorities in Hi no Kuni planned, others went on about their day unknowing of what was awaiting them in a years time.

* * *

"It's gonna suck when you're gone."

"You'll learn to live without me."

Naruto's blue eyes mirrored the colour of the sky they stared up to, his messy blonde head of hair pressed back against his hands. He tilted his head to the side, looking across at his company. "Will I, though?! Who'll train with me? You've literally been my friend for-" Naruto paused, scrunching his face up. He drew a blank. "A very long time!"

"Long time? Can't even remember how long we've been hanging out? Thanks, Naruto." She said in mock hurt, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. Tenten mirrored Naruto, laid on her back with her hands behind her head, looking over at him. They were the only two people at the top of the Hokage Monument, as usual. It was their spot, to hang out, talk and train. Always had been.

Naruto used his bare arms to push himself to sit up, bringing his hands up defensively. "Hey, I'm only eleven. You're the twelve year old here."

"You can still count."

"Sure. Don't mean I can count well."

"...You're an idiot."

Tenten sat up, looking out past the tops of the Hokage's heads and to the vast, sprawling city which stretched into the distance, a melancholy smile on her face. Their home, Konoha. Not two years ago, it had nearly been torn apart by the Uchiha Civil Conflict, but here it was, its buildings standing tall and strong.

"They tell you what army you're gonna be part of when you graduate?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side. In a few days time, his best friend was probably going to leave him for a long time. For the eleven year old, this thought had only just started to sink in. It was something he'd never considered in the past, as he always remembered Tenten being around with him. It was just an accepted fact for him, him and Tenten were inseparable...until now. It hit him hard, but he tried not to show it to his friend. She'd probably just laugh at him anyway.

"Of course not. It's like test results, dummy. We don't get them until we've finished. Tell you who I want them to assign me to, though? L-"

"'Lady Tsume, General of the North and the strongest warrior in all of Hi no Kuni!'" Naruto cut into Tenten's sentence, speaking along with her and mimicking her movements to an exaggerated extent, making blinky eyes in false awe. "Laame!"

Naruto earned himself a jab in the arm. "It's not lame! She's my role model and deserving of our respect!"

"Sure, but you know who is way more deserving? And was General of the North before Tsume?" He asked, leaning in with an oh so mocking smirk on his face. Tenten brought her hand up to her forehead, feeling the urge to punch her friend once again. She knew exactly what he was going to say, but there was no stopping him even if she said yes.

"Fine. Who is i-"

"Minato 'Yellow Flash' Namikaze! The man who single handedly defeated the armies of Iwa and their generals, the second youngest person to take on the mantle of General and the youngest to earn become Hokage in the history of the Nations!" He shouted in the ear of Tenten, earning a cringe out of the girl. She leaned away, pushing her hand into the face of the whiskered boy.

"I get it! I get it! Shut up!" He broke into a fit of giggles at her displeasure, and she eventually joined him. They tried to enjoy moments like these when they could. Soon they'd be few and far between.

They eventually settled down, content to watch the metropolis once again. "...How's Sasuke?" She after minutes had passed them by.

Naruto frowned. "Better. Still really quiet, but better."

"He'll get there, Naruto. It'll be hard for him to move on from it, you know?"

Naruto nodded. Even he had trouble getting over them. The Uchiha Civil Unrest was a full blown civil war that lasted a week. Roughly half of the standing army in Konoha sided with the clan for one reason or another, and the result was...a bloodbath, a one sided massacre. General Hatake made sure of that. Now, there was only one Uchiha left in Konoha, his friend Sasuke.

Naruto remembered meeting Sasuke. It was only a year before the incident, but that was long enough for them to become good friends. When it all went down, he didn't see him for weeks after, until he suddenly reappeared from thin air. He was different, traumatized. He attends the academy, but never talks to anybody, and always seems to be on the verge of just leaving. He talks to Naruto, but only rarely and when they're alone. From the glimpses Naruto managed to gather, what Sasuke went through wasn't something Naruto could fully understand. Tenten, Iruka and the old man were the closest thing he had to a family, after all.

Despite all that, it did not dampen his dream to become a General.

"I'm gonna miss you, you know?"

"You'll get over it."

Tenten slid her arms under Naruto's shoulders, pulling him into a hug, one which he happily returned.

The next year would be a lonely one for the aspiring Naruto.

* * *

_Prologue End_

_Next Time: The journey begins, march to the battlefield. _


	2. The Call I

**AN: Hey! Horse who is most correct here, hoping you enjoyed the prologue to Tora Kiba. I'll start by saying thank you for reading! This has been an idea I've been wanting to work on for a while, and I had two chapters ready to put up. I'll nip some buds of curiosity here, considering it would take way too long to reach the point for them to be explained.**

**In Tora Kiba, the elemental nations are a lot larger and warfare is more 'standard'. Normal, everyday Joe's are part of the military and there are military forces outside of Ninja which the Hokage has technical domain over. The Hokage and the hidden villages are less mercenary, and more the military arm of the nation they're based within, working closely with the Daimyo in the capital. Some things in the history of Naruto timeline will be different which enabled the Elemental Nations to reach this point. **

**As a note, _Kingdom_, _Romance of Three Kingdoms_ and _Sengoku Basara_ are the obvious inspirations for this. Any questions or feedback, feel free to leave them in a review! I'll try my best to answer any inquiries about the story without giving away too much. I'll try not to use AN's too much, in order to make the reading experience more cohesive. **

* * *

_The only way to have a friend is to be one._

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

Raido Namiashi was a patient man. It was a trait he'd always had, but it was one he had refined over his years serving under Shukaku Nara. He'd arrived in Konoha a day prior in order to observe the Academy graduation on behalf of the Western army, a task he was not particularly fond of. It was as if Lord Shukaku gave him this errand in order to annoy him, knowing full well that Suna forces were going to make a push on the outskirt settlements around the border the day he left. Of course, Lord Shukaku could undoubtedly handle it himself, this situation being one he has probably planned for months in advance…

But he still wanted to contribute, damn it!

None the less, he observed the graduation, standing with the other generals representatives and appearing godlike before the many sets of innocent eyes...although they were not all innocent, he noticed. A dark haired boy at the back of the class, eyes dull like a man who had walked through hell and back. The Uchiha child was already on his way to becoming a good soldier. Raido made a mental note.

The graduation came and went, but something was amiss, a detail which was probably only really noticed by him, Iruka and the other teacher, a missing piece to the Konoha puzzle - the Kyuubi Jinchuriki did not graduate. So, he did what the patient man would do.

He watched. He waited.

Raido always considered the modern usage of the word 'ninja' to be more of an umbrella term for 'versatile special infantry', although the word itself did have roots in the profession of assassination and other covert operations. Most ninja were employed either in the frontlines as fodder, as forward skirmishing groups, as artillery, as sensors, and so on. Raido took pride in that he managed to stick with the 'original' version of ninja. He may not have been a monsterous powerhouse like General Inuzaka or Hatake, or as strategically minded like Lord Shukaku, but he was very good at killing. Not fighting, but killing. He could lay in wait for days at a time, hide in plain sight and strike when you least expected it -

But that's getting away from the point. Rather than use these talents for killing in this situation, he simply watched. Watched the container of a monster, a mere boy, be convinced by a Chunin to steal the compiled works of the First and Second Hokage, the Scroll of Seals. Then he watched as that boy succeeded in the task against all odds, surprising even the usually calm Raido. Were he a less level headed and calculating man, he would have stopped Naruto there. But, he was not that man. The rest of the evening came as an even bigger surprise.

Not only did the boy have the audacity to _open _the scroll, he read from it. A good three hundred or so clones he counted, all with decent reserves, all beating the silver haired chunin closer and closer to the realm of unconsciousness. The prospect of having such a card in the metaphorical deck came to Raido after he'd worked out how much raw chakra making so many clones would require, and he liked it. He continued to watch. Iruka Umino, the boys teacher, seemed to be allowing him to graduate.

Now was as good a time as any to make himself known.

* * *

"_Welcome to the Western Army, Uzumaki."_

It had been a good morning for Naruto Uzumaki. Ignoring that he was now very much _late_, he had nothing to worry about. The words of that man, Mr. Namiashi, repeated in his head, over and over. Not only had he graduated, learned a kickass technique, and then kicked Mizuki's ass, he was scouted by the Western Army! Not assigned, but actually scouted personally.

It was recognition. The thing he'd always strived for, chased after for most of his youth. He was recognised as being something other than a freak, than the container of a monster. Naruto recognised what this was - the first step to the top. With each step, he'd only gain more and more recognition, until he was at the very top. For a while, he didn't think he'd ever manage to take that first step.

Naruto ran down the bustling streets of late-morning Konoha, the pathways alive with commerce and construction work. Barging into people left and right, barely having time to stop and say sorry like he usually would, the blonde left a slight plume of dust kicked up from his sandals against the dirt. Ten minutes ago, that's how long he was meant to meet up with the rest of the graduates and Mr. Namiashi, and _now_ was when they were meant to be leaving.

What could he do, though? Unlike the other graduates, he didn't have the entire evening to get ready. All his packing was done just before he left the house, and he only just bought some snacks for the trip! Luckily, he didn't have to go the the armourer to buy any weapons. Tenten had prepared him a year before hand in that regard.

Before she left, she'd bought him a few things, all of which he now wore on his person. The most obvious item was the curved sword strapped to his shoulder next to his backpack.

The katana wasn't an odd choice on Tenten's part. The two of them sparred on what was, give or take a few, every day they'd been together, with and without weapons. The weapon which they'd both sort of fell into as the norm was the bo-staff staff, and it wouldn't be too arrogant of Naruto to say he was decent with one - only problem being that a staff wasn't particularly useful on a battlefield, so Tenten did him one better, a sword. Of course, it wasn't his most practised weapon and he'd have to get used to the odd weight, but it wasn't unusable.

The second most obvious part of his inventory was a little frustrating for the blonde. A steel-grey chestguard, not unlike the flak jackets worn by the highly secretive (and incredibly awesome, in Naruto's opinion) ANBU Black Ops agents. The difference being that his was clearly made for wartime, rather than covert operations. Sturdier to withstand piercing attacks to an extent, but obviously heavier as a payoff, and far less agreeable when it came to moving. The benefits outweigh the cons, Naruto thought.

In fact, the biggest problem with the chestguard wasn't any of that, it was simply how disgustingly warm it made him when he put it over his jumpsuit. He settled with simply undoing the top half of the jumpsuit and tieing the arms of the suit around his waist. An unfortunate sacrifice, but one that had to be made for the sake of his sweat glands. Now he was devoid of orange on the top half of his body, only black undershirt and gray chestguard.

The rest of what Tenten had given to him was simple ninja tools: kunai, shuriken, an empty storage scroll for them and a first aid kit - not that he had the darndest idea how to use it.

Naruto finally arrived, eleven minutes late. '_But at least I look ready!' _A wide, trademark grin spread across the boys face as he came to a slow before the gates and the group of people he'd kept waiting, all of which seemed far less impressed with how he appeared and more annoyed/confused/glad at his lateness.

"Mr. Uzumaki, so glad you could finally join us." The no nonsense voice of Mr. Namiaishi cut through Naruto's grin like a hot knife through butter, almost forcing a feeling of shame into the blondes gut.

"The fuck? I thought you failed!" A yip followed. Naruto cringed. Kiba, an Inuzaka, a rival, an asshole. The young canine handler stood with his hands in his pockets, a scowl on his tattooed face, feral teeth bared. His puppy companion, Akamaru, stared at Naruto from its resting spot in Kiba's pulled down hood.

"Well, I clearly didn't, asshole!" Naruto yelled back with just as much childish vitriol, coming to a stare off.

Kiba's face scrunched up in confusion and petty anger. "You weren't called up with the rest of us! What happened?" Kiba crossed his arms, head tilted. Namiaishi cut in.

"Inuzaka. I assessed Mr. Uzumaki myself. He fulfilled certain criteria not covered in your graduation exam." That was meant to be the end of that, but Kiba was having none of it.

"What? That's totally favouritism, man."

Raido closed his eyes, taking a calming breath. He really did not like children. "Maybe."

"I'm glad you passed, Naruto." The third person present who Naruto recognised made herself known with a squeak of a voice. Hinata Hyuuga, giving him a quick bow.

Naruto grinned once more, placing a hand on the back of his head. "Thanks, Hinata." She was a weird girl, but nice. Her and Kiba were pretty close, if Naruto remembered correctly. With a glance around, he noticed some other former classmates and academy goers, bringing the total number of present graduates to 13. The rest seemed pretty content to wait and ignore Naruto's lateness. Any conversation that was about to be started between the three familiar genin was cut off by Raido.

"You can all talk when we're on the road. We have to get a move on. I trust you all know how to run?" The Jonin asked to the gathered youths, earning a few murmurs and nods.

"Run? The hell does he mean by that? 'Course we do, right?" The slightly more vulgar-tongued Kiba asked to Hinata and Naruto, squinting an eye. The two shared a look of uncertainty.

As if to demonstrate, the Jonin began walking out of the city, only to break into a running speed clearly beyond what the average human was capable, arms limp behind him. It wasn't long before he was out of sight, having jumped into the treeline surrounding Konoha.

The trio stared with wide eyes, the other ten former students starting to get their (much slower) run on.

"...Oh. That's what he meant." Kiba finally broke the awe, taking off after their group. "C'mon dead-last, Hinata, lets run and talk!"

Hinata gave a meek nod, following Kiba's lead along with Naruto.

Naruto's journey began the moment he left the city behind him, venturing out into a world that academy reading simply would not ready him for.

"What about everyone else, mh?" Naruto turned to his right, looking at Kiba.

After two hours of running, Raido finally slowed down to a walking speed for the out of breath genin, the summer sun not making the running any kinder on the young ones.

"Everyone else? What'd ya mean?" Kiba arched a brow, holding onto the straps of his backpack. Akamaru had fallen asleep an hour ago while running.

"You know, where'd everyone else get assigned? Sakura and stuff." Naruto asked, genuinely curious. If he was earlier, he probably would have been able to meet the other members of the 9 before they departed.

"Oh, right. Lemme think a sec…"

"That's new." Hinata smiled at Naruto's jab.

"Shut it, dead-last. You want me to tell you or not?"

"Psht. Touchy." Kiba growled at the blonde, but enlightened him none the less.

"Sakura got sent off North to hang with my mom, I think. No idea how she's gonna handle that." Kiba snickered, Naruto joining in while Hinata just covered her mouth, her amusement evident.

Kiba had told Naruto stories about his mother before, a very light-hearted, but brutal woman who demanded exceptional performance from all of her soldiers, especially when it came to fighting. Sakura was hardly known for her physical prowess,light-heartedness or brutality.

"Ah, Shino was also sent north." Hinata added with a certain nod. "He seemed...sad that neither me or Kiba would be joining him."

"Oowah? Really?" That surprised Naruto. He wouldn't have figured a guy like Shino would be assigned to the North borders. Seemed way more East border, they foster the quiet types. Oh, and Shino being sad.

"Yeah, man. It was surreal." Kiba caught onto the other meaning of Naruto's confusion, evidently. "Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji got sent East. No surprise those three would get sent to the same place together." The other two nodded along. The Ino-Shika-Cho combination was famous throughout the nations, especially the Ino-Shika-Cho combo which General Nara was part of. That made eight -

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto sort of just blurted out. He hadn't been able to talk to his distant friend on graduation day, and there was something worrying the jinchuruki. Kiba winced, as if he saw this coming.

"East." That was all the young Inuzaka said, and Naruto tensed, turning to focus on the path in front of him.

"...Was he alright?"

"Hell to the no." Naruto blinked, locking eyes with Kiba once more. The tattooed youth wore a frown. "He was mad. Maaaad."

"How mad we talking, Kiba?" Naruto had considered this possibility. It was the worst case scenario for the Uchiha.

"Maaaaaaaad." Kiba repeated with wide eyes, as if it was enough to get the idea across...and it was. Naruto just nodded with a sigh.

In short, the Uchiha had a bone to pick with General Hatake and his masked Vice General known simply as W.

They walked quietly for the next few minutes, the sound footsteps on dirt and chirping birds in the trees filling the silence. It was a weird topic area for all of them. For Naruto, because of his friendship to Sasuke, for Kiba and Hinata because of how big a part their respective clans played in purging the Uchiha from the planet alongside General Hatake.

The Inuzaka and Hyuuga both stepped up to the plate of being a symbol of Konoha's military might, with the Uchiha gone. Naruto could tell the two children of the clans felt guilty, even if they had absolutely nothing to do with it themselves. It wasn't like Sasuke treated them any worse, either.

"He'll be fine." Hinata was the one to speak, holding her hands together by her legs, her eyes downcast. "Sasuke's strong, to get as far as he has even after what he went through. He'll get stronger...and so will we."

Hinata's word had a good effect on Naruto, a small but genuine smile appearing on the blondes face. That's right, he still had a dream.

"That's right, Hinata! We're going to get stronger, and I'm going to become a Great General!" The Inuzaka's toothy grin only served to vanquish that smile Naruto had.

"Oi! You're still using my dream as your own!" Naruto yelled, earning a few glances from the rest of the graduating class. Hinata just watched on in mild amusement, finding something good in watching the two rivals bicker.

"Your dream? Don't make me laugh, Naruto. There's a big difference between me and you, and that difference is that I have the ability to become a General!" Kiba gave the blonde a big, boisterous and mocking laugh, arms crossed and chest out.

"What's that even supposed to mean?!"

"You blind? It means I'm not a dead-last who can actually perform basic techniques. And the people who become Great Generals are either from great families, geniuses, or taught by the best of the best. Can't say any of those apply to you."

Naruto winced. He wasn't wrong.

"Then obviously, I'll just break the mould! You watch, dogbreath, I'll even command one-thousand soldiers before you!" Naruto declared, beating his chest guard with a fist.

"Big talk, loser. Lets make it a bet on it." Kiba grinned from ear to ear, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Name it."

"First one to thousand man commander hosts a party for the winner and all his troops, pays for all the food and everything."

Naruto paused to consider. Would he even be paid that much at that point? "You're on!" Caution was cast to the wind, either way. Too caught up in their competitiveness, the two only just noticed that Hinata had stopped walking. Naruto blinked, looking over his shoulder at the Hyuuga heiress.

"Hinata?" Kiba spoke up. The Hyuuga didn't move, her gaze downcast, short hair curtaining her face from inspection.

"You alright?" Naruto and Kiba made their way over to the Hyuuga, concern written over their faces. The shook her head, looking up at the two with what was probably the widest smile Naruto had ever seen from the meek girl.

"It's nothing. Lets go."

* * *

_Night fell over Hi no Kuni. Meanwhile, in a forest east of Konoha._

The entire journey to the meetup point had been a daze for the Uchiha heir, lost in the confusion of his own near mad thoughts. The day before, he found out that he would be serving the man he despised the most, the men he wanted dead more than anyone else. To say the least, he was angry. Even now, walking along a barely tread footpath on the instruction of his commander in the cooling darkness, his rage had not faded. It was simply less explosive right now.

The man who had come to pick up Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and himself was a man known as Asuma, son of the Hokage and commander of six thousand. He was nice enough, to the point where Sasuke felt a tad ashamed of how he had treated the older man throughout the trip. Rude, would be one way to put it.

The other three graduates were shocked at his behaviour, he could tell. After all, they were only used to the quiet and cool version of Sasuke, the one that tried to keep the complicated stuff away from his classmates. Not the near-violent mess he was yesterday, or the spiteful, aggressive child he was being earlier.

He was owed at least that. His pace picked up, spotting a camp fire through the trees. He was allowed his anger at a man who probably had a hand in killing his family, and the men who undoubtedly contributed. He stopped before he went out into the clearing.

Two men sat on separate, laid down logs in front of a fire. They looked familiar… where had he seen th-

_Fear drives a boy to run, every inch of his body telling him one thing: 'You're going to die. You're going to die'. Like a mantra, over and over, unspoken but definitely heard in the child's ears. He hears more screams from outside the compound. The boy rounds a corner, nearly slipping from the lack of friction from the sock on polished wooden flooring. He clings to the corner, looking into the room ahead. _

_He sees one thing in the open dojo, the very thing he did not want to see - death. Death. The body of a grown man falls off of a man with the blank porcelain mask's blade, slumping onto the floor with a morbid thud. A woman had already met the same fate next to him, at the edge of the same sword. Another was in the room, very much alive, a black mask covering the lower half of his face, silver hair spiking to the side. One eye, three tomoe. The coppery scent, one he has become familiar with for two days, makes him want to vomit. He coughs and sobs instead._

_The boys mother and father were dead, and he had nowhere to run. He wanted to scream out for them, to see if he could look them in the eye one last time - but he could not. Primordial instinct gripped at his vocal cords. The man with the porcelain mask simply looked at the boy, even though his mask had no eyeholes. Time lost meaning, he could have been staring at them for an hour and the boy would not have noticed. The boy finally spoke. _

"_Why…?"_

"_- - -" White noise from the white mask answered him. Why couldn't he remember those words? _

_The sharingan-eye tilted his head at the boy, taking in the plethora of fear, anger and hate playing through his face._

"_Do you want to die?" He asked, as casual as the weather. _

"_...-"_

Hatake!

"Oh, is someone there?" Sasuke flinched. Had he said that out loud?

Seeing no point in hiding, the Uchiha stepped forward into the clearing, eyes locked on the silver-haired man before him. The cyclops stared right on back, but with no hint of distaste or anger, unlike Sasuke. In fact, he seemed rather jovial. The other, the man with the blank mask, was content to simply look at the fire, body as still as the material of his facial cover.

"Kakashi Hatake, General of the East, renown in each nation for your actions under General Namikaze during the Third Great Conflict and for achieving the title of Great General while still a teenager." Sasuke listed off automatically. He knew this man. He'd made it his business to know this man. His past (what he could find of it), his tactics, his techniques. He was far less impressive up close.

The man was dressed as a standard jonin, outside of the ANBU mask sticking to the side of his face, obscuring the singular Sharingan he kept hidden and the shaggy, worn grey poncho he wore over himself. He even wore his forehead protector on his forehead. In fact, that was something he'd noticed in each of soldiers in the camp who were ninja and not just conscripts. They were by the book. Uniform in the most bland sense.

Even the other man present was in perfect ANBU regulation clothing, other than his blank mask, which actually concealed his entire head Sasuke noticed. It was unusual; Generals were the types to dress in strange and colourful manners, simply because no one would stop them from doing it.

"You remember me, Sasuke-boy. I'm glad! Its has been a few years, hasn't it?" He sounded so happy, like an uncle who has just seen his nephew or niece after a long time, kind but somewhat distant in his kindness. What was there to talk about, after all?

"Yes." Was all Sasuke said, brow furrowing in frustration. This man was mocking him. He'd killed his entire clan, now he was treating Sasuke like a child? Playing ignorant? He had kunai. More than anything else, he wanted to use them right now. He was no fool, though.

"...Well then, don't just stand there. Sit down, it gets pretty cool around these parts, even in the summer." Sasuke complied, sitting on a third seat with his hands gripping at the white three-quarter lengths he wore.

He had read about the 'aura' generals could put out, about how they could cow lesser people with mere glances, how their presence brought out servitude in soldiers - Sasuke felt none of it. Only the phantom pain of rage and grief burning in his body, disrupting rational thought.

"Should have figured you wouldn't be up to talk." The cyclops sighed, crossing one leg over his knee, resting an elbow on it. Planting his chin on the palm of his hand, he looked over at the Uchiha heir with a bored slant to his eye.

"Do you hate me, Sasuke Uchiha? Do you hate him?" Kakashi nodded to the still, masked ninja who seemed to almost blend into the background when not actively paid attention to.

"Yes." Sasuke spoke without hesitation. It wasn't something he needed to be asked. It was an objective truth in the broken Uchiha's world.

"Do you want to kill us, Uchiha?"

"Yes." Of course, of course he did.

"Do you have the power to kill us?"

"...No."

"Do you want it?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll give it to you." Double take. Sasuke's eyes shot open. One word running through his mind, one he wanted to shout at the General in front of him.

'_What?!'_

"We'll give it to you, and you'll use it to destroy the enemies of Hi no Kuni. When the time comes, when you're finally strong enough, you can try to kill us. The question is, Sasuke -" Kakashi stood with a groan, like a tired old man. Actually, that was a good way of describing General Hatake. He was tired, Sasuke could see that in his eye.

" - When the time comes, will you still want to kill us?" Sasuke's gaze hardened at the question. Ridiculous. How could he ever forgive him? Mother, father and brother - no, the _entire_ Uchiha clan would not allow that. They'd never let him sleep if he let them live.

As if reading the boy, Kakashi spoke once more. "There are secrets in this world, Sasuke. They surround everything, pushing us unknowingly into who we are. And as you get older you'll learn about them…whether you want to or not. It is to you, as a man of the Uchiha, to take the knowledge you gain later down the line and come to your own decisions." The general smiled. The boy couldn't see it, but he read it in his eye.

And like that, Sasuke was alone by the fire. The masked one seemed to have left when Kakashi was talking. The Uchiha was in the dark, left with only a cryptic message and implications as his guide.

Sasuke Uchiha hated Kakashi Hatake...but he'd follow him, for now.

* * *

"You know, I'm really glad we only got a small number of graduates. This is my first time leading newbies to the base. I mean, we got here in one day! How about that?" Positivity and joy, that's what carried in Tenten's voice. Only problem was, she was the only one feeling like that.

Sakura Haruno could barely feel her legs, they were more slabs of jelly which happened to move in a manner which carried her in the direction they were heading, deeper into the the Northern Army base, built at the base and side of a mountain near the border with Kusai no Kuni.

"That's because you had us run non-stop, without stopping at any point for food or rest. Usually, it would have taken two days for a group of ninja our size to traverse this region of Hi no Kuni." Shino's ever vacant, matter-of-fact voice pointed out. If the Haruno knew better, he sounded a tad bitter. Unlike her, though, he didn't show any signs of being tired.

The panda-haired youth turned to the two rookies, her hands placed at her sides, a frown on her face.

"Now, you listen here! You're Northern Army now, and that kind of complaining does not fly around here!" She raised a finger, signaling the start of some kind of lecture. The base seemed lively, men and women alike being equally loud and boisterous in their passing.

"But I was merely making an observation regarding your propositional statement." Shino delivered it flat. Sakura inwardly nodded to herself, not daring to make any physical gestures in case any attention was focused at her. This was bitter Shino, alright. If Tenten had heard or not, they didn't find out.

"Every member of the Northern Army is expected to have three qualities: Sturdiness! Taking a scratch isn't going to stop us, and neither is some physical exercise!" She pointed to the worn out Sakura, who only groaned in response. Her body couldn't handle this right now. "Bravery! We don't run from a challenge!"

Shino cut in again. "Bravery could also be defined as knowing what to reasonably fear."

But Tenten kept on trucking. "And finally, comradery! We're a big family, here. I'm basically your big sister, now!" The brunette grinned, moving over to throw her arms over the shoulders of the two new recruits.

The Aburame shifted uncomfortably. Sakura was simply too sweaty and worn out to care. Tenten pushed them along with her arms, grin still going strong. She nodded to and greeted a few passing soldiers and ninja, all of whom seemed just as happy to see her as she was them. Strangely enough, Sakura noted, both her and Shino were getting greetings as well. Seems Tenten wasn't kidding about the whole comradery thing.

"Oh, that reminds me. I've got to introduce you two to the Captain!" Sakura heard, but didn't care. She was just starting to get feeling back in her legs. What she did care about was the layout of the base.

It was like a very large town, most of the major buildings having been build into either rock formations within the boundaries of the walls or in the mountain itself. From her hunched over position, moving through what appeared to be the 'main street', she could see an opening on a lower part of the mountain, although it was still pretty high up from where she was. Two figures, shadowed by the light behind them, looked over the base. Sakura's observations were cut short as she was forced to turn and face the entrance of a command tent.

"Captain! Captaaain! Fresh meat, come say hi!" Tenten called into the tent, loud enough for the entire street to hear them, but no one paid mind to it. Regular occurrence, probably. There was some rustling in the tent, an awkward (from Sakura's perspective) quiet taking the place of Tenten's rather pleasant but loud voice.

Finally, someone parted through the entrance to the tent, and Sakura felt herself get hit by something intangible. She could stand upright again.

"This, lady and gent, is the leader of our unit, commander of five hundred -"

A loose white shirt, almost a robe, hung over their upper body, the sleeves becoming wide at the ends, the tips of his fingers only just exposed when at his sides. A grey apron-like piece of clothing hung around his waist, covering lower body to his knees with matching white pants to the shirt under the apron. Sakura was reminded of a noble from the Kuni capital, a politician not a soldier.

His skin was fair, the pale tone often associated with the very image his clothing gave off, a person of high birth and blue blood. Long black hair framed his face, running down to his mid back if Sakura had to guess, the kind of hair that made her want to say 'hime' in adoration. How on Earth does a guy maintain his hair so well out here? Across his forehead ran a seal, two lines emphasised to a cross with its ends pointed. And finally, his eyes. As white as snow, the only indication of there being a separation of iris from whites being faint black lines.

Byakugan.

"Neji Hyuuga."

* * *

The Aburame held back every urge to flinch at being in the presence of their captain. Every insect in his body was going crazy, not because they felt threatened… it was just because. He could feel them settling down in his system, the writing coming to a calm. An uncomfortable sensation, but one he had long grown used to. You don't act as a living hive without learning to just deal with it.

Out of his classmates, he could have been considered a genius much like Shikamaru or that Uchiha, but he liked to keep it to himself. It was unbecoming, in his eyes, to allow such titles to go to your head. In his free time he researched insect breeds, tended to his own kikaichu and simply read broadly. What he was feeling right now, being the subject of his now-Captain's gaze - he did not have to be a genius to know what this was. A sensation of slowly being crushed, but at the same time uplifted. The feeling that he could do more, as long as he was around this boy, no more than a year older than himself. For a child to have come this far already...

The aura of a budding General.

'_How terrifying.'_

* * *

_Meanwhile, not far from Sakura and Shino…_

Tsume took another gulp of the crimson substance from the green-tinted glass bottle, the hot feeling in her cheeks finally becoming noticeable for herself, a pleasant lightheadedness making her earlier headache feel like it was miles away. Now if only she didn't require so much of the crap to make it worthwhile.

Honed eyes squinted on the expansive base beneath the mountain, her 'throne room' acting as the perfect look out point for the Inuzaka General. Yeah, she had a throne room. She knew she was probably the most eccentric out of the three Generals of Hi no Kuni, and she didn't give a damn. Her position called for some degree of fun.

To hell with the dress code and uniform, she'd wear her leather body armor if she so well pleased, and the lack of arms on the armor allowed her to show off her scars, as well as some rather impressive muscle. Heck, she even wore a metal wolf head shoulder guard on her right shoulder. Why? Because she wanted to. Made her look like something out of a manga. Hardcore.

It was as much for the soldiers - brothers and sisters in arms - as much as it was herself. They risked their lives every day on this disgusting, humid border making sure Kusa and Tsuchi kept their dirty paws off of their home, and over the past year and the years before it they'd done a damn good job. Sure, she was no General Minato, wiping out an entire generation of Tsuchi generals in one push, but the skirmishes and border fights they did have were more often than not in favour of her boys and girls. They'd earned their rep.

Live and let live. Have what fun you can here, because tomorrow it could all be gone. Dress however you bloody well please. Shit. She was getting worked up over nothing, again.

Tsume leaned forward in her seat, the pleasant crackle of the blaziers echoing through the stone throne room. Seems Panda-Girl had returned with the recruits. Two of them.

"Fucking hell, Gekko. Two?" The queen of wolves asked off to the side, her gaze fixed on the trio entering the base. Standing at the right arm of the throne was a sickly looking man, weary eyes accented by heavy bags. None the less, he stood with his back straight, as proud as any fit-for-service soldier.

"I did warn you ahead of time, General Inuzaka. Most of the recruits were sent off to the East and West armies." The man, Gekko, had a quiet voice with a slight rasp to it. It was not like Shino, who merely did not talk and then spoke when he felt necessary, but more that this man had problems speaking to begin with. "I hear the Oto forces have already pushed into Mizumi no Hashi. Siege only lasted a day." Tsume grunted.

"You could have warned me _some more_ about this, you coughing shit. I wasn't expecting to be this disappointed today." Hayate shook his head.

"...Was letting a city be taken by Oto part of the plan you had all devised?" He focused on the slightly more important matter.

"Yeah. Something like that. Let Wonder-Eye worry about it. Oto's nothing compared to him and his guys."

The people watching continued. The occasional throat clearing from Gekko and the low breathing of the one eyed wolf at her feet seeming far louder to her suddenly.

"Fucking hell, Hayate-"

"Is the vulgar language necessary, General."

"The pink one, you see that? With the pretty little qipao." She pointed down into the base, leaning forward even more as if she were watching some observer sport. Hayate squinted his weary eyes.

"I do, General."

"Gonna break down on her first kill. The Aburame, ain't got to worry about him. Shibi raised his kid tough and strong. Pinky there? Can see it from here." Tsume brought her lip up into a snarl.

"Shinobi parents, probably tried to shelter her from the tough reality of the job. Didn't get her ready physically or mentally, thinking she'd be content to join the standing army. Guess what, Princess, welcome to the fucking North border. We eat breakfast while fighting those red Tsuchi and green Kusa cowards."

The Feral General threw back some more of her liquor. "Damn shame. Thought her parents would be better than that."

"Speaking from personal experience, General?" The swordsman asked, blinking idly while staring out at the military town.

Tsume turned her head sharply, a feral growl coming from the very depths of her throat...but then eased. Fucking Gekko. Cool, coughing piece of shit. That's why he was her Vice General. He balanced her ticket, reminded her when she was being goddamn stupid.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. Ashamed of it too. Breaking on your first kill means you're brittle iron. Who uses a sword made of brittle iron, right?" If the Vice General felt any pity for his General, he didn't show it. Good. If he did, Tsume would have rammed her foot into his taint. "Ain't all bad, though. Can get some good from it." She sat back in her throne, sliding into curve.

"Oh?" Hayate sounded genuinely curious. No surprise there, it wasn't often she shared anything about herself, other than how cute her kids were. She couldn't help that.

"Think of it this way, Gekko: You break, you're in metaphorical pieces, shitting yourself and bawling like you've just popped fresh out of your mothers legs, _and_ you don't know what to focus on first. The dead guy in front of you, the blood on your hands or the the next guy coming at you who you're gonna have to kill as well. But you know what? In the middle of the battlefield, it's the best and worst place to shatter." Tsume felt the unwelcome tug of nostalgia pull at her.

A part of her youth played back to her quickly. The downpour of Ame, General Oda Hyuuga, Kuromaru, blood. She blinked it away. Hayate was looking at her, expecting.

"You can be reforged in the fight, be made stronger, fiercer, more dedicated. Usually comes at the blacksmiths cost of your friends, get them hurt trying to save your ass." She pushed a foot at Kuromaru's head, earning a disgruntled growl from the napping companion wolf. She was pushing at the side without the eye. "Or you just fucking die. End. Fin."

"You were not the latter case, then." Tsume growled again. Smug asshole.

"Pinky can either become someone useful, or she's going to be one of the bodies cleaned up after her first engagement. She can either become strong, or become the dirt. Some goes for anyone else weak sent up here.

"...When is her first engagement?"

"To-fucking-morrow." The Inuzaka general gave a throaty laugh. "It's fun, hearing about how the Hyuuga kid, a goddamn thirteen year old, manages to wreck Tsuchi guys. Makes my days worth it. Good to know there'll be some real monsters there to take over when we finally croak it."

"And the Aburame? What do you see in him?" Tsume turned to Gekko, a little hum coming from her, a smirk pulling at the ends of her red marked cheeks.

"Fuck is this? Gekko taking an interest? What caught your eye?"

"Simple curiousity, General."

"Don't bullshit me, you goddamn monster. Your eyes are better than mine. You know exactly what I'm going to say."

Gekko gave her a look, the unspoken "_What?"_ being carried through his gaze.

"He's just like you, you sword-freak."

Hayate just smiled.

* * *

_All the while, halfway between the Hi-Kawa border…_

Naruto, Kiba and Hinata were in a far better state than Sakura and Shino. Rather than running for the entire day, they alternated between sprints and walking, allowing for periods of rest. Not only that, but their destination was closer. Raido was a considerate man.

Along the way, Raido had informed Naruto and the others about the upcoming war with Kaze/Suna, something which both exited the blonde and evoked a feeling of dread in his gut. This is what he'd been waiting for, his opportunity to shine. On the battlefield, people didn't care if you were the container of a demon or a normal guy, just that you were on their side, that you were helping them fight a common enemy. Just like in the stories he'd read about the Fourth.

After that, Hinata had become progressively more quiet. Not that Naruto noticed, or Kiba for matter. They were content to shoot jabs back and forth, sometimes slipping into some civil conversation before the terms 'deadlast' or 'dogbreath' were tossed out, sending it back into bickering.

The camp was currently in sight, the sounds of human life being oddly welcoming to Naruto. Walking through the surrounding forest felt oddly desolate, even if it was with other people.

"Finally! Can't wait to get some damn shut eye and rest my feet. Pretty sure I got some mad blisters on my toes." Kiba said, rather unnecessarily if Naruto was being honest.

"You really have to tell us that?!" Naruto cringed, absolutely disgusted.

"If it gets a reaction like that, you know it."

Naruto didn't know how to come back to that one, so he let Kiba have that. Outgrossed, coming from the kid who used to smear all sorts of nasty stuff over the faces of the Kage's for giggles.

Just on the outskirts of the adhoc tent camp, a boy seemed to be waiting for them.

"Namiaishi-dono! Welcome back!"

This boy took Naruto back for a few reasons, eliciting a few rapid blinks from the blonde: The enthusiasm, it was who knows what time at night in the middle of the summer, no one should have that much pep. The honorifics, using those was one of the most old fashion, lame things you could do. The clothes, while admittedly nice looking, were odd for this part of the world. A deep green tang suit, not that Naruto knew that was the name of the boys clothing. The eyes, those intense eyes. Wide, unrelenting, watching your every move...and were those eyebrows, or caterpillars?

Naruto was creeped out, and from the looks on Hinata and Kiba's faces, so were they.

"Ah, Green. Have you been waiting here this entire time?" Raido asked, taking a far more every-day tone with this particular kid. Was he a ninja? Naruto couldn't tell.

"Of course not, Namiaishi-dono! I spent them training. I guessed you would be returning around now, and decided I would meet you in order to ask this: Would you or your companions like a beverage?!" Raido shook his head, not at the question but rather the boy. The Jonin shot a look over to the graduates, earning a few positive mumbles from the tired group, Naruto included.

The guy was weird, but he seemed nice enough.

Raido faced the boy he'd called 'Green' once again, giving an affirmative nod. "Seems so. We'll be in the briefing tent, water for thirteen." The scarred man pat Green on the shoulder, who seemed absolutely honoured to receive the order, zipping off before any more could be said. Naruto had to ask.

"Who was that, Mr. Namiaishi?" There was just something incredibly surreal about that boys whole existence, at least to Naruto. He was just way too excited to be here this late at night.

"Ah, just some eager volunteer kid. Lets go, you lot." The jonin was starting to sound a bit tired himself.

The jonin lead them through them through the camp, giving the recruits the briefest of tours. Sleeping tents, toilets (which were immensely disgusting, Naruto noted), ration pack distribution, and finally the briefing tent. They received some glances from the conscript soldiers present in the camp, just everyday men, and a few women, not completely used to the military life. They seemed uncomfortable at the prospect of children serving alongside them.

'_Not like it hasn't been happening for hundreds of years,'_ Naruto thought.

They entered the tent where they found two other ninja waiting for them, both of the immediately saluting Raido, knowing smirks on their faces. While it was absolutely protocol for when a superior walked into the room, these two were doing for laughs. The kind of people Naruto could appreciate.

Not Raido, apparently. Two jabs to the gut later, Raido turned to the gathered graduates. Somehow, they'd managed to make themselves into neat rows of 3, minus some poor soul on his own at the back. No one else seemed to have noticed, other than Naruto - it was like a compulsion once Raido had looked back at them. Odd.

"These two lost causes" Raido began, sounding rather perplexed "Will be your captains. Introduce yourselves, captains."

The one with a bandage going across his nose spoke first. "Yo. Captain Kotetsu Hagane, commander of a thousand. "

"Captain Izumo Kamazuki, commander of a thousand. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." It was easy to tell which one was the hard worker of the two, from tone and posture alone. Izumo stood upright, while Kotetsu seemed fine to just stand there with his hands in his pockets.

"Tomorrow, you will be marching with either of these two to body of the main force, and you will stay with them throughout the battle until given orders otherwise from them or someone who is their superior. Understood?!"

The sudden rise in Raido's volume compelled the children in the room to straighten up, giving a chorus of 'Sir, yes sir!' almost involuntarily...but it wasn't. It just came naturally. They all knew the protocol, Naruto just did not expect that he would fall into it so easily. Raido had a slight smile on his face.

"Good. You two, work it out between you who you're taking tomorrow." With that, Raido walked out of the tent, passing the returning Green kid with a tray holding a jug of water and plastic cups for the graduates plus one. The Green kid stumbled a little, but didn't falter in his mission, going about handing out water to the recruits with a stalwart expression on his face.

Naruto took his cup of water with an appreciative grin and nod. He liked this Green guy, even if he hadn't talked to him yet. He seemed like a hard worker, and that was something Naruto could relate to, even if he only really had some weapon skills and a really good clone technique to show for it.

Once the water was handed out, the Green kid made a swift exit. Kiba turned to Naruto.

"I recognise that guy, you know."

"What? From where?"

"He was in the academy! The year above us, when we were in our first year. One hundred percent certain."

"How can you even remember that?!"

"How can you forget those eyebrows?" They weren't shouting exactly, just exclaiming under their breath.

"What's he doing as a volunteer, then?"

"No clue, man. I think he probably dropped. Didn't see those eyebrows after the first year, y'know."

"Ah...I think he failed to get past the second year. He was in my cousins class." Hinata spoke up for what felt like the first time in a week, a pleasant surprise. Naruto was starting to think she'd completely retreated into her jumper.

"Sucks. Wonder what he's doing here, then." Kiba thought allowed with a shrug.

While they had their chitter, the two captains conferred in mutters, occasionally looking around at the now distracted. They came to a decision, nodding in unison. Kotetsu clapped, getting the attention of the rows of rookies.

"Alright! You, you, you, you, you-" it continued for five more students. "All of you, you're with me tomorrow! Alright, good hustle! I'm going to go get some more food." The bandaged man waved his hand as he left, not even waiting to hear the groan of frustration from his partner.

"...You can go. Meet up with him and the rest of your unit first thing in the morning." Izumo picked up the slack, and the other ten students followed their captains lead. This just left Naruto feeling very picked out, along with Kiba and Hinata.

"And it's down to four. You three get to stick with me, tomorrow." Izumo stuck his fist out to the somewhat confused three.

"Uh, sorry if this comes across as a bit rude, but why only us?" Naruto spoke what was on their mind, rubbing the back of his head.

"Right, right. See, I work better with small numbers. I like the details, and I'm more suited to getting those with a team of three rather than...several teams of kids." Izumo explained, flashing them a kind smile. Kiba and Hinata nodded at the answer, but Naruto couldn't quite wrap his head around it. None the less, he was the one to bump fists with the Captain, the other two joining the instant after.

"Alright! Tomorrow we're on the march. Know what that means, Naruto?" Kiba tilted his head at the blonde.

"...I have to put up with you for a few more days?"

"Means I'm gonna get closer to being a General, while you'll be getting closer to being my subordinate!"

The ensuing routine bickering brought another smile to Izumo's relaxed features. To be younger again.

* * *

_Meanwhile, miles to the west of the trio and their new commander..._

Hi no Kuni was not the only nation with a one eyed general.

A tanned hand skirted over the parchment laid out before him, good eye scanning the hastily drawn up plans and contingencies, scrutinizing them. Sound. Very sound.

He looked up to the young man on the other side of the fold down table, his auburn hair tied back into a long ponytail, garbed like some sort of wandering samurai from Tetsu no Kuni. What distinguished him from them was the Suna headband around his neck.

"This is good, boy. Very good. Using the environment in such a way… it's very much possible." The mans gravelly voice praised, glancing back at the plans the young suna ninja had brought him.

"You honour me with your praise, sir." A naturally kind voice from the younger of the two.

"Tell me, what age did you graduate?"

"Seven, sir."

"Splendid. If you drew these up, then I expect you've noticed the problem in the plan."

The teenager nodded, appearing a bit disappointed that there was a problem in the first place. "Time. Their march would need to be slowed by six hours at least, a day and a half ideally"

"Considering who the enemy general is, that time will be hard bought. But, you've proven yourself competent enough to come up with this idea. Have you any suggestions?"

The brown-haired youth smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Actually sir...I do."

* * *

_Next: The Call II - First blood, Kaeda attacks. _


	3. The Call II

"_There is one fact of life that all would be wise to remember, be they old scholars in libraries or soldiers on the field: It goes on, with or without you." - Nidaime Hokage Tobirama Senju_

* * *

_Late afternoon, the City of Mizumi no Hashi, Hi no Kuni, near the Kuni-Oto-Yu boarder. _

Cold steel cut through the air, the target of its killing edge none other than himself. Black tomoe span on red eyes, the slowed time perception kicked in as it had been for each assailant that attacked him him. Like this, it was childsplay.

Sasuke's body moved in time with the slowed perception, a numb arm swinging itself and a curved sword through the air and through the attackers large man fell to the ground, as slow as a leaf on a breeze to eyes of the Uchiha, a brief spurt of his lifeblood leaving another red mark on the sweat and blood drenched Sasuke. He couldn't have hit anywhere else, the man had plated armor on every other part of his body.

It was a siege. His first battle under Hatake was to siege a city that Oto taken days before. The footsoldiers, professional and conscript alike, planted the siege ladders against the walls. Small groups of chakra users like himself and the Ino-Shika-Cho combo scaled the walls with their trained talents to make sure the ladders were not kicked down.

The killing wasn't a problem. He'd seen death before, bodies of people he cared about even. He didn't care about these Oto soldiers. They were just bags with faces, for all he cared. Chouji had taken it a little bit hard, but he didn't let it impact him too much. Speak of the devil, Sasuke hears the sickening sound of bones breaking and blood bursting under a gigantic fist, even over the constant drone of warfare.

He looked over his shoulder to Chouji and the others. The Akamichi was tiring out, looking even more drenched in red fluids than himself. The other portly boy had quickly figured out how dangerous he was in a fight against non-ninja, and had been making use of it.

"Form up! Back to back!" Shikamaru's voice cut through the violence. He'd taken the mantle of squad leader rather reluctantly. He was lazy in class, but he was showing a completely different side to himself out here. His taijutsu and skills with a kunai were no worse than Sasuke's own, but he seemed to lack any offensive techniques outside of his shadow abilities. He was relying on the other three to do the damage for him, while he kept them from getting split did as ordered, the four of them standing back to back and facing off against the Oto soldiers on all sides.

"Stunning!" Ino called out, forming a handseal "**Ego Burst!"** Sasuke felt the wave of Chakra wash over him, emanating from Ino's head and hitting the immediate soldiers surrounding them. The effect was instant, they blinked and stumbled, as if shoved by something intangible to them. That was their signal to do some damage before they recovered in a second or two.

In an instant, Shikamaru was crouched to a knee, maintaining a handseal as his shadow slithered across the ground, a vein popping at the top of his head, sweat rolling from his hairline. He'd never rooted so many people before. Chouji followed up, enlarged hand raised in the air - and then slamming down on the group of disabled soldiers to one side. Chouji cringed, his hand not coming away from that uncut.

Sasuke went through a series of handseals, ending in tiger. His Sharingan had awakened the day before, during their first siege attempt, and had been running non stop since they started again this morning. He had to be frugal with his chakra.

His lungs burned as the chakra-turned-fire surged through his body, a fireball the size of a large pomelo shooting towards the soldiers surrounding on the other side of the walls length. It burst upon touching an intended target, a middle aged looking man in nothing but some Oto coloured clothing and a sword, undoubtedly killing him and at best scarring the two next to him for life if they survived. The rest of the flame spread out in a wall, forcing the large column of soldiers on the wall to back up.

They had breathing space.

The first hand from the infantry pulled its owner up onto the wall, and others followed. Men in armour, professionals, not just conscripts like the fodder who were certainly about to be mowed down by their martial superiors. Sasuke's arms dropped to his sides, finally getting the momentary peace they'd been desiring.

Chouji fell to his rear and Ino held her knees, trying to get her breath back after using a stunning technique on so many people. Shikamaru was clearly tired, but he seemed focus on the distance - off behind the distant hill where HQ and General Hatake had set up.

Sasuke noticed that while they were only fighting on the walls for what was in total a few minutes, there had not been a single ninja there to counter their presence. It was all...fodder. Farmers with swords and bows. It was either poor preparation, or they were being rused by the enemy commander. Given his luck, Sasuke wasn't surprised when he saw flags off in the distance, and the thousands of tiny dots that accompanied them.

* * *

General Hatake did not have to turn around to realise what was happening. The ground rumbled as it did during a battle, but this was not coming from the scene below the hill where his HQ was stationed, watching his tens of thousands charge the high walls of the city, but rather from behind him. Oto's main force had gone behind them, somehow.

He'd figured that'd happen. Orochimaru was a tactician on par with Shukaku Nara, only more slimey. The moment Kakashi realised that Oto's forces had moved to take Mizumi no Hashi from them, he knew it'd be used as bait. He didn't know what direction Oto would actually choose to come from, but it wouldn't be from the fort. His suspicions were confirmed when he didn't spot any ninja manning the wall, only conscripts.

The real battle was now.

"Asuma."

The smoking man to his left nodded, taking the cigarette from his mouth and then going through a series of handseals, arching his head upwards. Asuma spat flame into the sky, maintaining it for a good few seconds, the fires gathering into a sort of orb before vanishing. Then more of them, from across the field. Seconds later every soldier, ninja or otherwise, did a 180 and turned to face the real enemy, their charge not seeming to lose any momentum despite the sudden change in direction.

It was specifically for this reason that he placed the heavily armoured, trained infantry at the front of the charge. There was no need to use a shield when the enemy wasn't going attack, so he left it on the back - the untrained and lightly armoured.

Kakashi had effectively nullified the intent of the back attack by positioning his army _backwards. _Now, the light infantry which made up a bulk of the front lines and acted as skirmishers, were in position to fight their counterparts in the outnumbered Oto army.

The Sharingan-Eye finally decided to face his apparent foe, looking across the plains which seemed to now be teeming with people, the musical note of Oto flying amongst the flags.

Still… this felt far too rudimentary and simple for any scheme of Orochimaru. To make a sound in the east and strike at the west? Any man could do that.

"W."

The white-masked ninja appeared at the use of his 'name', his choice of weapon in hand. A dagger with a long and sturdy chain connected to it, although the dagger was more of a nail in shape rather than the conventional single edge.

"The General isn't among them."

Nothing more had to be said between the two. The mute ninja vanished as quickly as he had arrived. His mission was clear. Search and Destroy.

Kakashi watched the battlefield silently, Asuma handling the barking orders to the backline of archers and signal bearers. The Sarutobi wasn't Hatake's vice-general, but he still considered Asuma a vital part of the East forces. Neither Kakashi or his enigmatic vice-general were really all that good at raising morale, but that's where Asuma came in. He had the voice, presence and blood to back him up when barking orders.

Not that his men did not find him inspiring, he just liked having someone else do that bit for him. His throat got sore when he tried it.

A chorus of pulled strings, then the twang and whistle of the thousands of arrows being launched into the clear skies, their shadows passing over the charge and raining down upon their foe, the small dots of soldiers in their front dropping and tripping like sacks. Roughly three hundred dead or down, if Kakashi had to guess. Not enough to stop their charge.

Like a delayed mirror, a similar picture played out from the Oto side of the fields. Whistling, shadows of the little black dots in the air, raining death and injury on his frontline. This was too standard. Oto had not played their card yet. Kakashi hummed, tilting his head to the side, considering the battlefield like a Shogi board on his turn.

"Hey, Asuma. Tell me what you think: Hidden army to our flanks, a cataclysmic technique or another distraction?" The Sharingan General asked the bearded man, who just arched a brow in his direction.

"Oi, isn't it your job to figure this stuff out?" Asuma chuckled, finding his General's relaxed disposition jarring no matter how much he was exposed to it. At least Shukaku got serious when directing from a HQ.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I'm not a tyrant, Asuma. I want to hear what my dear subordinates think about the battlefield they're risking their lives over." Asuma snorted, shaking his head.

"Funny. I think they've got something set up for the clash. This is too textbook. Look at this, they're even getting the cavalry ready to follow up." Asuma pointed out to the left and right sides of the Oto columns, groups of slightly larger spots moving forward with dust plumes following them.

"Huh. I was thinking hidden flank. It's what I would have done, with our back to a city like this." Asuma let out a 'mh' in agreement, nodding.

Rumbles came from the battlefield, the two forces no more than seconds away from clashing, only to be disturbed by a presence erupting from the ground, sending chunks of Earth flying over and crashing into the Kuni heavy infantry behind the front. Only a handful lost, manageable. A thick cloud of dust and dirt obscured something _colossal_, its writhing silhouette just visible to the Sharingan General.

A brown, scaled tail lashed out of the veil of dust, sweeping along the front line of the central column, both crushing and launching soldiers unfortunate enough to be near it. A head parted through the obscuration, a vicious hiss traveling through the entire battlefield.

Kakashi sighed. Seems Asuma had the right idea. It was a snake. A gigantic, roughly fifty meters long, snake. The silver-haired general reach up to pull the Inu mask over his face, Sharingan glaring out through the left eye of the mask.

"I guess I should lend a hand. Asuma, take over."

Asuma squinted at his General, not seeming too moved at the appearance of a giant snake. "I was already doing everything anyway, what else is there for me to take over?"

"...Keep up the good work, then."

* * *

_Later that day, near the Kawa border..._

Izumo was fond of his new recruits. For the two days they'd been on the march, the three of them had proven to be an endearing lot. There was a blatant disregard for rank among them, two boys of the group talking to Izumo as if he _wasn't_ a commander of 1000. Cyclops, was the nickname Naruto had given him. It felt like he was impeding on Kakashi's territory, but he didn't have the heart to tell the kid to call him something else.

Kiba and Naruto were talkative enough, Hinata was a worry though. Girl spoke like she was trying to deliver a speech in front of a massive crowd. He'd have to get that out of her at some point. Meekness didn't have a place in their line of work.

Still, something was bugging the young commander.

"Hey, Naruto." Izumo glanced out of the right corner of his eyes to the short blonde boy walking next to him, distracting him from whatever conversation (or argument) he was having with Kiba. The sun had set and they _still_ wouldn't chill out. Had to give them credit for keeping the rival thing going for all hours of the day.

"Mh?" Naruto looked up at Izumo, blinking.

"You said your dream was to become a General." Izumo stated, it not really being a question.

"You know it! What about it?"

"Just got me thinking. Why? Is there something you want out becoming one?" Izumo finally turned his head to look at Naruto as they walked, following two horse-pulled carriages. Behind them was the rest of his unit, with Kiba and Hinata on Naruto's right. There was something relaxing about marching at night.

"Eh." Naruto made a face, arching a brow as if to say "_isn't it obvious?" _The blonde closed his eyes, arms crossed. He thought hard on it for a few seconds.

"I want to be recognised!" Naruto grinned up at his Captain, who raised his brows at the answer. "I'll become the Great General everyone knows, and the enemies of Hi no Kuni wouldn't dare attack us! That way, everyone will be protected, without fighting." Naruto nodded, happy with his answer.

'_To protect and be recognised, huh?' _Izumo thought, looking back to the path before them. Izumo had been one of the people who had always been apprehensive when it came Naruto. While he had never interacted with the Jinchuuriki before their meeting in the tent, he was at least aware of him. He, like many citizens of Konoha, remembered the night of the Kyuubi attack and subsequent invasion by Mizu. Not pleasant, to say the least.

But, having talked and laughed with the boy over the past few days, he was unsure why he felt that way. He was a child, end of. Jinchuuriki was just something else on the side. In retrospect, it was the Kyuubi he should have been wary of, not Naruto.

Ultimately, he now realised that he was part of the general problem when it came to how Naruto was treated. He wasn't abused in a particularly vicious manner in Konoha, but being socially ousted for twelve years has its own rather disturbing effect. From the distance, it could be looked over… but up close Izumo realised how starved for acknowledgement this child was. The things he said, including his reasons for wanting to become a General, spoke of a severe lack of confidence and a far reaching fear of rejection.

He wasn't a psychologist, but he was well read enough to take a few confident shots on the subject area. The clown act Naruto put up probably not all that healthy, but it might fade with time. He had Hinata and Kiba, and as long as they stuck together, their bond would grow strong in battle.

'_Hopefully, that'll mellow him out. I certainly don't miss being that age.' _Izumo put those thoughts aside, giving Naruto a nod, opening his mouth to speak-

"Your dream is most admirable, Naruto-kun!" An enthusiastic (and far too intense) voice cut him off, a blur of green motion seeming to weave through the lines of soldiers behind them, taking up a spot next to Hinata on the end of the front line.

"I too wish to be recognised for my skill!" Lee nodded, leaning forward to look across to Naruto. "Let us reach the pinnacle of our abilities together, Naruto-kun!"

Lee had become a regular addition to the group after they'd arrived. Izumo wasn't with them all the time, but when he was Lee was usually not too far. He had fit in well with Kiba and Naruto, and even managed to get Hinata to talk some more when he was around.

Well, there was the one incident yesterday which he had to break up. The tang suit clad boy had been made fun of due to his failure in the academy, and was basically looked down on by Naruto. Kiba made sure to join in, given how easy of a target Lee is to rile when it comes to his capabilities.

That was a situation Izumo diffused before it went off. Lee challenging those two to a duel would have been...painful. Other than that, best friends forever.

"'ey, what about me, Lee? I'm wanna be a General too, duh." Kiba leaned forward to signal his joining of the conversation.

"You as well, of course, Kiba-kun. I did not intend to offend you. Forgive me!" The boy with a braided ponytail bowed while walking, Kiba's expression softening.

Another thing Lee was good at, making people feel bad for making fun of him.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. We'll reach the pinnacle of our power, or whatever you said."

"Pinnacle of our abilities!" Lee correct him.

"We're the ones who talk about this stuff the most, but we never heard from you, Hinata. Where do you want to be when you're older?" Naruto diverted the course of the conversation to Hinata.

All attention was on her, she went from perfectly content to deer in headlights in one second flat. Izumo was curious as well. Out of his three ninja recruits, Hinata was the one he knew the least about, other than that she was a Hyuuga. He doubted that was how she wanted to be defined, either.

"...I never really thought about it." She admitted meekly after a few seconds, hunching her shoulders, her chin seeming to vanish into the collar of her heavy beige jacket. Goodness, how did she wear that thing in this humid weather. "My father wants me to become the family head after I've had some experience, but…-"

She noticed them. Whole sentences after two days of one word responses, brief smiles and nods. The rarity that Hinata's voice had enraptured the trio, the three of them showing shocked but intrigued expressions. Izumo couldn't blame them, this was the most she'd said about herself to his memory...and to theirs as well, it seems.

"What?!" She squeaked out, red reaching the tips of her ears. She looked like a turtle. A positively adorable turtle.

"Nothing, nothing." Kiba said, blinking away the shock. "My mom's kind of the same. My sister's not really interested in the whole clan head thing, so mom wants me to take over when she's all old."

"You are both lucky. My own custodians did not wish for me to join the march at all! As they should be. The life expectancy of conscripts and infantry without professional training does not offer very promising future prospects." Lee says that, but seemed so nonplussed about it Izumo could have mistaken him for saying it as if was a _positive_ thing.

"Morbid. Just stick with us, Lee. We'll carry you to glory."

"I will not require carrying, Kiba-kun. I can walk."

"...Nevermind, man."

Naruto hadn't contributed. That was different but not unexpected, Izumo supposed. The boy had no parents, and records of them had miraculously vanished. It wasn't hard to figure out who his father was, though. Born on the day of the Kyuubi attack, blonde hair, and second name Uzumaki. It probably was not meant to fool the older Konoha ninja, but outsiders and the young ones. The only reason the Third never outright said it to the older shinobi was probably a matter of principle.

So Naruto Uzumaki had nothing to contribute to the conversation about parents, even though his father was one of the greatest generals to grace Hi no Kuni. There was sort of sick irony to be found in that. It wasn't showing, but the talk was most likely getting to Naruto, at least a little.

Time for a direction change.

"You know, I wanted to be a General when I was younger." Izumo spoke up, a nostalgic smile appearing on his face. "Not the case anymore, though."

"Really? Why? Don't you want to be one of the coolest people in all of Hi no Kuni?" Naruto sounded outraged at Izumo's words, earning a chuckle from the chill Commander.

"Mh. I guess it's more that I got older. I realised I was better at being this - commanding my unit under General Nara. I like it too! If I was a General, I wouldn't have time to talk with you guys. But with this lovely bunch -" The Commander pointed a thumb behind him to the following soldiers taking up the path. "I can still make an impact on the field _and _have time to talk to you four. It's hard work, with lots of responsibility, being a General… lots of lives to look after."

"You say that like it's gonna stop us from reaching the top." Kiba smirked. "Just because you ain't up for it, don't mean we're not."

"I never said that!" Izumo raised his brows, raising his hands defensively. "I'm just making sure you know. I don't want my newest recruits aiming too high when their resolve is too weak."

* * *

Gold eyes stared at the passing convoy of soldiers, his tanned hand fingering the hilt of his nodachi, if it could be called that. He wasn't going to lie to himself, he was nervous.

Kaeda Araragi had gone to General Baki himself with this plan, now it was up to him to make sure it went off without a hitch. 'It's your plan - you make it work', that was Baki's approach to it. General Baki had even promoted him from Commander of 1000 to 2000 specifically for this mission, skipping what would could have been a few months, even years, worth of work. He was one step closer to becoming a General, and now he had to display that he was worthy of the promotion.

The samurai-styled Suna swordsman brushed a loose lock of brown hair from his vision, ponytail blowing in the nights breeze. He could feel the anticipation of the thousand soldiers behind him, itching to fight but at the same time fearing for the outcome. They could die here. He had no such fear. He had a dream to chase, death could wait until it was a reality.

Kaeda had split the Two-thousand into separate one-thousand man units, one on and another past the border of Kawa. The reason for this was simple - distraction. Hi no Kuni had a small border town which they were currently only thirty minutes running speed from, and across the border there was a town which belong to Kawa...for now.

Hi no Kuni's forces would undoubtedly 'borrow' it for the sake of getting resources to the front easier. Kawa had long since abandoned any illusion of control, with it being a child stuck between the giant scorpion which was Kaze no Kuni and the hound that was Hi no Kuni. They wouldn't contest these temporary measures.

There was a sweet spot between these two towns where the entire Western Hi no Kuni army would be directly between these two towns. It was perfect. An attack on the Kawa based town would force some sort of reaction from the front of the army, and if another attack occurred on the border town - Hyoji he recalled, then the back end of the campaign force would have to react. They didn't need to fight them, just draw their attention. One-thousand was more than enough to sack a town and hold them for a few hours. Their marching momentum would be lost, they'd have to reorganize and scout the areas to make sure there wasn't more to this little ploy.

They'd be sorely disappointed.

Kaeda raised an open hand to the night sky, staring intently at the column of soldiers. There were children among them no older than twelve directly at the front, with the man he assumed to be the commander of the column. Their deaths would be a sad one, but they were not ones he'd remember. He closed his raised hand, signalling the concealed masses behind him.

Specs of orange lit the thick forest which hid them, bow strings pulling back. The sound of released strings filled the forest, and then the orange lights took to the air. Kaeda began to draw his blade, the steel scraping against the inside of the sheath.

He must not - will not fail.

* * *

The feeling in the air, an enemy intent. The chorus of whistles.

Izumo reacted instantly, fortunately for Naruto, Kiba and Hinata. His hand reached for the handle of his Kunai Blade in a trained reflex, digging his foot into the ground and pushing himself in the direction of the source of the attack, the left side of the road, and brought his blade to bare.

Izumo squinted his eyes, time seeming to come to a slow as he watched the quickly approaching flaming arrows rain downward. He swung at the closest arrow when it came into range...then the next, and the next and the next. His blade was a steel blur in the air, deflecting and cutting arrows down into harmless twigs.

It all happened so quickly. The three recruits barely had time to react before Izumo was standing over them, chipping wood from the air with his kunai blade. Shouts and wails came from all around them, soldiers in Izumo's unit dropping behind them. Orange lit up the night, fires starting on the fabric of men and caravans. Izumo had experienced worse.

"Hinata! How many of them?"

The Hyuuga panicked, her chest pounding in fear and excitement. In one moment, she had been listening to Captain Kamizuki talk and in the next they were under attack. Already, he was shouting orders to them, the very first being directed at her.

She took a quick breath, tossing hesitation to the side and making a hand seal. Chakra poured to her eyes, the strain on her face signaling its activation.

"Byakugan!" She cried, a pulse of chakra acting a sort of echolocation for her in all directions...and she saw a lot. Hinata had never activated her Byakugan around so many people before, seeing the life force of so many people in one area in all directions…

"Hinata?!" Izumo cried back to her again, pausing in his gesticulating and order barking to get her attention again. It was sensory overload for the girl, stunning her in the spot for a moment. She counted quickly, eyes widening when she got a rough estimate of how many people were hiding among the tree line.

"A-ah! 'Thousand, sir!" she said hastily, having already delayed her captain. Reaction speed was everything in a battle, at all levels. That was an important lesson they'd taught them in the Academy, over and over. A few seconds could mean everything.

"Alright, action!" Naruto shouted from behind her, causing her to blink. Wasn't he scared? There was no hesitation in his voice, at all!

"Time to kick some sandy ass! Lets go, dead-last!" Kiba as well.

Wait, where was Lee?

Naruto took the blade from his back, giving it a spin in his hands. This is what he'd been waiting for, a chance to prove himself. He'd show Captain Izumo and Kiba that he could become a General, no matter how hard it was.

"Five...no- six ninja, sir!" He heard Hinata inform their captain, earning a nod from the kunai bladesman.

"Senku-Sha unit! Our enemy hides with the trees! Do not let them fire again!" Izumo's words projected loudly, enough for the entire 1000 men under his command to hear. How was he so loud and clear? Naruto looked back at the lightly armoured men, a cacophony of blades being drawn down the rows of soldiers, fire burning in their eyes. They were as ready as he was. "Senku-Sha, destroy them!"

The Captain pointed his kunai-blade to the treeline, the thunderous roar of a thousand men and the sounds of their feet against the dirt overriding any other sense. They charged, and so did Naruto and Kiba.

They both ran into the outstretched arm of Captain Izumo, falling flat on their backs. Naruto brought his hands to the back of his head, letting out a whine. He couldn't help but feel incredibly disappointed. He was so ready to go! Hyped up! Then it was just taken away from him. The captain looked down their prone forms.

"This is your first engagement. I'll take care of the ninja, you just focus on backing up anyone you come across, understood? No heroism." Before the two General-aspirants could protest, their Captain had run off into the treeline, kunai blade ready. They got back to their feet, Hinata deactivating her bloodline.

"Killjoy. Where'd Lee go?" Kiba asked, groaning as he rubbed the back of his head as well.

"He was here a second ago, wasn't he?" Naruto looked around, not spotting their well dressed, eyebrowed friend.

"I couldn't find his signature with all these people around…" Hinata said off to the side, worried.

"Nevermind. We're burning time! Lets go kick some ass, Naruto, Hinata!" Kiba flashed them a feral grin, stirring the same feeling of hype he had when Izumo readied the charge.

* * *

"**Samara Hiko!**"

Steel sliced through flesh threefold, no pause in its path through its targets. Blood spurt from the deep wounds around their midsection, three lightly armoured soldiers drop to the ground. If they were very lucky, they'd live.

Lee shook the blood off of his blade, looking for his next contestants. The Jian in his hand was nothing special, just something he'd had forged at a reasonable price. Yet, it drenched itself in the lifeblood of men like a mythic weapon.

'_The wielder makes the blade. The blade makes part of the warrior.' _Lee thought to himself. This blade just resonated well with his style, and he worked well with it. Something snapped behind him, heard through the clashes of steel and yelling all around him.

The green swordsboy spun with grace unexpected, long braided pony tail wrapping around his body momentarily. His sword arm moved with the rotation, swinging for the almost-ambusher. Another body slumped down. He was surrounded by the bodies of his enemies. He felt nothing other than the drive to go on. The desire to prove his skill to the world.

He could not use chakra. He was no ninja, nor was he from a reputable clan. He was just a boy with a sword.

He spotted one of his allies struggling a large enemy soldier, a mix of fat on muscle on his body, slamming a mace down against the blocking blade of his much smaller ally. Lee's next foe was marked.

* * *

"**Taiju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" It felt right, using that Jutsu. Right here, right now, it was the perfect time to use it.

Naruto barely felt the chakra leave him as thirty identical versions of himself shimmered into existence, spread out through the dense and chaotic forest battleground. They required no command to know what they had to do: Help.

For a number of Suna soldiers in the area, their battles became two verses one, an annoying blonde which was exactly identical to another blonde not far from them suddenly sprints over, swinging and stabbing at them with a blade haphazardly. It was a jarring event for them, but it didn't shock them enough to stop fighting. Only a few seconds later, Naruto felt the feedback.

He felt a spear puncture through his ribcage, an arrow through his eye socket, a club crashing over his skull...but he was fine. He was dying everywhere, he had memories of those moments of pain, but he was fine. Naruto quickly discovered the biggest pro and con of the Kage Bushin technique first hand. He would be forced to experience everything they experienced upon dispelling in the span of half a second.

The first one left him stunned enough, but then they kept coming. Hinata and Kiba had been separated from him when they entered the forest to join the melee, and he felt so insurmountably alone. Is that what it was like to die? An overwhelming sense of pain and finality?

Naruto just...stood there. His eyes were wide, ocean blue shaking. Sweat rolled down his temple, forehead protector doing little to protect from perspiration. Again and again. He'd died nine times in the twenty seconds since he'd used the technique.

The feeling of something forcing its way through his chestguard and just puncturing the fleshy side of his back broke him out of it, the very pain he was afraid of one second ago saving him from what would have come next.

There was a panic. He didn't want to die, not for real. In a movement only a cornered animal could make, Naruto spun and swung the blade of his katana like a club to strike whatever was behind him.

Naruto wasn't ready for the force of the clash of blade on blade, his grip on the hilt faltering. Something warm ran down Naruto's side, thick in consistency. His own blood. The pain kept him from remembering how his clones died. It forced him back to reality, to what was happening to the real Naruto. If he didn't fight with everything, right now, he'd end up like one of those clones.

Naruto hopped back, getting into stance with one hand on the lower end of the katanas hilt and another closer to the blade, the weapon angled upwards somewhat.

His lone attacker amidst the chaos of combat was a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, his head and face shaped in blockish features. He wore a bandana on his head, the Suna symbol stitched into it. He wasn't a ninja, otherwise it'd be metal, and he had no armor, just loose fitting, free clothing with bare arms. His brown eyes had a steely determination to them, one which Naruto mirrored. The short blade in the soldiers hand did not quiver. He had fought before.

The Jinchuuriki made use of his reach, swinging the naginata in horizontal swipe at the soldiers chest. The blade of Naruto's katana met with his enemy's, but rather than force a clash, the man guided the katana downwards at an angle, and then pushed. Naruto felt his grip weaken, but he did not let go. He refused to. He spotted the man dig his foot into the ground. He was going to close the gap, and finish it.

As Naruto predicted, the man positioned his blade at his midsection, tip pointing outwards towards Naruto. He charged, going for the kill while Naruto's blade was positioned off.

"_If that happens, then you've only really got one choice…"_

He remembered Tenten's words. He didn't hear them, but more he felt them - he felt them influence his next movement. The short blade pressed on through the chestguard.

A kick to the gut! Naruto planted his foot right into the stomach of the man, his chestguard saving him from what would have been certain death. The soldier wheezed out, falling back, winded from the force of the kick combined with his running into it. What came next was a significant event in any recruits life.

Naruto lunged forward, barely thinking about what he was going to do, but it didn't matter. His body moved before his mind, sword raised in the air. With a throat tearing yell, Naruto rammed the blade down into the nameless soldiers chest, breaking through bone and muscle, over and over. It felt odd - like his body was trying to stop him but his instincts drove him on anyway.

The realisation didn't hit him immediately. He had to come down from the high to appreciate his work, for it to finally dawn; He'd just killed a man. For the first time, Naruto Uzumaki had taken a life. His feelings at the moment were hard for even him to describe, like his mental state was balancing on a tightrope. It swerved, it could fall down into the pit of despair, going past the breaking point, or it could recover itself and keep on going, putting the act behind him until later.

He took a deep breathe, drawing his blade from the gurgling corpse...and looked to face his next opponent.

* * *

It had been asleep for so long, its dreams filled with nothing but an exhausting silence. The longer it rested, the more drained and tired it felt. It lacked its purpose in this dark cage. It wished to awake, it thought at some point during its long rest. It couldn't tell when, the years and the thoughts it had in that time blended together into an instance of convoluted time.

The fury of steel, scent of smoke and fire, yells of anger. Blood is spilt in the distance...and then it is drawn by his hands. A surge of emotion sends shockwaves through the dingy cage, the seal on the front rustling. Was it now? Could it finally awaken? It longed to be itself, after so long.

A familiar sensation filled the room, the feeling of a person being a pendulum between despair and solidarity. It needed the right choice in order to awaken, so it could know that it would not waste away if it did. Choose, boy. Choose! Let it be aware once again.

The quakes stopped, the sound of nothing other than the occasional drip taking the place of the screams of conflict...the cage became almost serene, but the there was a distinct smell of war. Solidarity it was.

It felt like an ancient engine, finally turning on after centuries of disuse. Sensation returned slowly, it began to smell more and more blood and fire that was not present within the holding cell. It realised it had arms and legs, even tails. A body, something it had forgotten in its state of sleep. It was weak, though.

Glowing red beads snapped open in the darkness of its cage. Its vision was blurred. Weak indeed, but still godlike compared to its host. It needed time. A few more moments to blink away the torpor.

Its eyes shut once more, a moment to take in the carnage.

* * *

"_I won't look back!"_

Another dead soldier before Naruto. He was getting into the pace of things, his body loosening up to combat. The second had been far easier, a less experienced fellow who swung blindly. It felt bad, but it didn't stop him. He marched on, looking for someone to help with his blade.

It was oddly quiet now. There was still combat around him, but he couldn't see it. Was everyone dead in his area?

A look around confirmed this. A few men of Izumo's unit lay on the ground - in two pieces. They were cleaved in half. Panic rose in Naruto's gut. He couldn't see anything that could have done that, there was only him around. Something moved -

Above him!

**"Uma Setsudan!"**

Two blades met, the sound of their clash bouncing through the trees. Naruto's body was still moving mostly on instinct, and it hadn't lead him wrong yet. However, no amount of instinct could save him from how damn strong his attacker was. The blade pressing against his own was more of a slab of metal shaped to be similar to a sword rather than an actual sword. A Nodachi of absurd proportions.

The downwards cleave, although blocked, sent Naruto stumbling back. He tried to regain his footing, facing his attacker.

"Not bad, kid! Not bad at all!" Came his attackers youthful voice. A young man, a few years older than Naruto, dressed in a traditional male kimono coloured reddish-brown and beige with a white haori atop it. To top it off, he had a suna headband hanging from his neck. A ninja! Great.

The suna nin kept his gigantic and off putting blade over his shoulder, a wide cocky smile on his tanned features. Naruto said nothing, trying to get a grasp on the situation in his mind. He didn't need another attack to know that this guy was his martial superior. The chip in his blade from where they'd clashed was evidence enough, as well as the pain in his arms. Still, he wouldn't retreat.

"Oioi. Don't put your guard down like that, it's disrespectful." Naruto nodded to the other boys stance, as relaxed as can be and filled with holes. It wasn't even a stance, really.

"No offense meant, Konoha." He hissed the name. "I assure you, my guard is very much up even though I'm not in stance. Let-" He suddenly turned around, blade swinging through the air with a wail

"Me," Behind him, another Naruto was caught in the swing, upper and bottom halves being parted. The clone dispersed and the suna nin completed his rotation, stopping in the same stance he started in.

"Demonstrate." He finished, head tilted back. Naruto clenched his teeth, a bit of frustration building. That clone was supposed to be stealthy! He took a calming breath couldn't let his enemy get to him.

"Should have figured that wouldn't work on a guy like you." Naruto grinned, his hands shaking a little. This guy could _definitely_ kill him, and that was a weird thing to know. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, soon-to-be General of Konoha! Remember the name!"

"Hah. You too, huh? I'm gonna be a General of Suna, so we've reached a bit of an impasse haven't we? Can't exactly let each other live." The swordsman took up stance, colossal blade held out in front of him with ease. Talk time was over, it seems. "Kaeda Araragi, commander of two-thousand!" He declared with pride, a wide grin on his face.

Naruto went bug-eyed. Oh yeah, that was bad.

Before Naruto could contemplate just how possibly screwed he was, Kaeda was upon him swinging with measured and controlled strikes. Naruto kept up, matching fierce blow for fierce blow, the sound of repeated and intense clashes audible even in the distance.

However, Naruto was on the defensive. Every time he went to strike back and create an opening, Kaeda was already moving to cleave him in one of many directions. He was wearing Naruto down with no issue, the blondes sword looking like a jagged chipped mess after ten seconds of this.

* * *

Hinata had a very unfair advantage against a lot of soldiers, and boy did she know it. The byakugan, with three-sixty vision and capable of seeing through objects, like the abundance of trees in this forest, and identify people hiding behind them.

Her hands moved in a near blur, lightly and quickly pressing against the upper arms and calf of one of the suna soldier she had run into, charka surging from her fingertips. Like the two before, he crumpled to the floor, a disabled mess. It wasn't killing him, but it was probably worse if she had to be honest with herself.

Oh, and the Gentle Fist. That's what really made this unfair. Everyone knew it was one of the deadliest martial forms on the continent, but they generally don't know how bad it really is. When used on a ninja, it's far more difficult to get the intended effect out of the Gentle Fist, but it was still enough for it to be considered as dangerous as it is.

Using it on those untrained and untalented in the ways of chakra? Well, then it became downright cruel. Three touches, at most. That's all she needed to completely cripple a normal man, without any of the family techniques. She knew this, and she used it to the best of her ability. As much as it would come to the shock of her father, or perhaps even her fellow graduates, Hinata was shy, not a complete weakling. She could hold her own in a fight, and she was willing to land killing blows if needs be.

You're not raised in a military village without at least acknowledging that death happens on the battlefield.

Oddly enough, she was happy to be taking part in battle. It got her away from her father and sister, for starters. She loved them both, but it was hard for the Hyuuga Heiress in that house. Father constantly pressured her into trying to be less shy, even attempting to set up Hanabi to become clan heiress. Hanabi herself viewed Hinata as weak. This all sprouted from her shyness and refusal to harm her sister while sparring - but out here she needed not worry about that.

Kiba, Naruto, Captain Izumo and even Lee with his abundance of energy already made the Senku-Sha unit her favorite place to be. She didn't talk to them a lot, but she was happy to be just with them. There was a feeling of camaraderie which emerged in the face of imminent battle which just felt so satisfying to the meek girl.

She wouldn't let them die. She would not let this happiness - or theirs - slip through her fingers while she had the Gentle Fist and Byakugan. At the end of the day she was a Hyuuga, Konoha's strongest clan.

With the third Suna soldier down, Hinata took a moment to collect herself. She'd never admit it, but being able to knock those guys around was really therapeutic. She didn't imagine her father's face on any of them, not at all.

Byakugan still running, she took in the local presences. A signal flares up to the North of her, a distinct orange colour leaking in with the usually-blue chakra. It was familiar, very familiar - and it was in danger. Another mould of chakra, far more refined and deadly but not as immense, pressed on against it.

She didn't know what the orange chakra was, but she'd know Naruto's dam-level reserves of chakra anywhere.

He was in danger.

* * *

_Next: The Call III, Final. Sasuke & Ino-Shika-Cho face an enemy that is beyond them. Sakura awakens to the reality of military life. Naruto, Hinata & Kiba vs Kaeda. _

**AN: The introductory chapters, the Call, end next chapter and then we get into the meat of Naruto's first major conflict. Kaeda is going to be the only OC 'villain' and he won't be around for too long. He's there for a reason, though. Expect releases to be slower from this point onwards.**

**Thanks to theIrishWriter and GogglesFTW for your kind words! I hope I can live up to your expectations. **


	4. The Call III - End

Were Kaeda a lesser man, he'd not have felt another enemy approaching him from behind. He gave Naruto a strong shove with his giant blade, sending the younger boy stumbling backwards through the small clearing in the trees.

"**Shotei!"**

Kaeda was not the sort to lie to himself. Hearing those words, even if from a rather squeaky, small voice was enough to strike a bit of fear into him. He reacted, freeing up one hand from the hilt of his blade, semi turning his body and grabbing the wrist of the attacker. A half-second glance confirmed he was justified to feel that bit of fear.

A Hyuuga.

With ease he tossed her by her outstretched arm before it could hit him, sending her tumbling to the side of Naruto. These two were both ninja, but they were inexperienced children none the less. The girl got to her feet quickly, taking up her stance besides the sweating and tired Naruto.

They'd only been fighting about half a minute, in reality. Admittedly, Kaeda was not trying his hardest to kill the boy - he didn't need that much. But to Naruto's credit he was doing a good job at not letting any of his swings connect with his body.

"_Now there's a baby Hyuuga to deal with as well. Fun, fun."_ Kaeda readied his blade once more, looking between the two Konoha ninja, waiting for them to make the first move.

"Naruto, are you okay?" The Hyuuga girl asked Naruto. Her voice had a determined edge to it, not something Kaeda expected from a small girl with such a cute face. She'd probably grow up to be a looker, if she lived.

"M'fine! Was just getting warmed up to send this guy packing." Naruto flashed a grin to the girl. What Kaeda saw was brief, but amusing. The Hyuuga girl seemed to falter for an instant. How cute. "What're you doing here, Hinata? I've got this guy."

"No you do not, Naruto." Hinata was quick with her words, shuffling her feet a little on the spot. Naruto blinked, taken back by what was the closest thing to resistance he'd heard from Hinata. "This man is trained ninja. You remember what Captain Izumo said?"

"Tch." Naruto didn't seem to happy about it, but he knew Hinata was right. No point acting tough if Hinata could see that he was losing. "Can't retreat. He's fast."

"If you two are done talking, we're in the middle of a war. It's not exactly a tactic to talk your enemy to death. 'Ora." Kaeda chided, eyebrows raised.

"That we are, suna. We were waiting for backup."

"We were?!"

"Kiba!" Hinata signalled, the vicious sound of earth and bark being torn up coming from the surrounding trees in...two locations? Kaeda's eyes widened, looking to his right just in time to see one of the sources coming right at him.

"**Gatsuga!"** The two grey, spinning storms flanked Kaeda, one going high and the other low. The suna nin pushed himself off of his feet, trying to back away from the impending impact…

The pain was instant - like a wild animal gouging and tearing at his skin, ignoring any resistance from his clothing. Luckily, he wasn't dead. The spinning came to a stop, crossing over and below one another and landing at either side of Naruto and Hinata in a crouch. Inuzaka.

They were near identical clones of one another, both with bloodied arms, right down to the elbows. They'd been doing work with those claws before arriving here. The one beside the Hyuuga wore a smirk, far different from the feral snarl of its counterpart.

"Sorry we're late. Got a bit split up, didn't realise you guys were in trouble until Akamaru pointed it out." Kiba let out a barking laugh. "Trying to take on ninja alone, dead-last? You know that ain't good for your health."

Kaeda took the moment to look over the damage. Only one of the Inuzaka's clipped him, but that was enough to make this troublesome. His upper right arm and shoulder had some nasty tears in the skin, some of it even going to the muscle. Had he been too slow, then that would have been an ugly death. Now he had to favor his left arm.

"Tch. Guess I've been playing around for too long." Kaeda cut off any rebuttal from Naruto to Kiba, altering his stance somewhat. He was going to kill them - not because they'd harmed or insulted him in anyway, just because this was taking too long. He had a plan to follow.

The sudden shift of intent was not unnoticed by the trio. In fact, this was the first time any of them had felt something like this. It was one thing to face a soldier who was trying to kill you, but Kaeda's mere intent to kill was placing a weight on their shoulders, causing them to sweat even more. For perhaps even the briefest moment, the three children saw their death at the hand of Kaeda. Fight or flight kicked in.

They chose to fight.

* * *

"To be honest, I was expecting more out of the five of you." Izumo casually spun his kunai blade around his hand from the loop on one end, smiling lightly at the tired and cut up looking suna nin in front of him. Izumo didn't even have a scratch. The surrounding trees they stood on couldn't say the same.

"Credit where it's due, though. Your teamwork is outstanding." He watched the five tense up, their kunai and swords raised, ready to go again. "Shame you ran into me though."

"He's too strong…" Muttered one of them, a young man in his early twenties if Izumo had to guess.

"Of course. That's Izumo Kamizuki, one of the Pincer Twins. There was no way we were coming out of this without a scratch." Replied an older looking fellow, thirties probably.

Izumo pursed his lips, shaking his head. "I hate that nickname! Kotetsu and I are not twins!" Izumo complained, hand on his hip. "Thank you for the recognition, though."

Izumo's finger twitched. Everything went to hell. Explosions triggered all around the squad of Suna nin, leaving the trees they were on either blown apart or in flames. They were as good as dead.

"Good teamwork, but your observation skills are something to be desired. Did not even see me place all those tags." With a disappointed sigh, Izumo rested his Kunai blade on his back once more. "But there was supposed to be six of you." Izumo squinted. There was still one more very dangerous soldier out there.

* * *

Okay, Kaeda was way stronger than Naruto gave him credit for.

A minute into their fight with the young man and they hadn't even put a scratch on him outside of Kiba's initial surprise attack. He was just too damn slippery! Naruto wasn't even sure how he could be agile with a sword that big, but he was doing it. Dodging, weaving and dancing around Hinata and Kiba's taijutsu, all the while using his gigantic nodachi to parry and bat away Naruto. It was frustrating, to say the least. If they gave him the opportunity to swing that monster of a sword around, they were done for.

But Naruto could feel something every time their blades met - two things in fact. The first and most important being Kaeda's guard was getting weaker, especially when he attacked from the right. The second feeling was less describable.

Hinata went in for the umpteenth time, light but quick palm strikes just missing their mark on the Suna ninja. Her efforts were rewarded by Kaeda's right fist to her chest, the blow making an audiable 'thud' to Naruto who was a few steps away. The girl went flying backwards, her spine slamming against one of the surrounding trees and slowly slid down into a slump.

"Hinata!" Naruto and Kiba shouted in unison, receiving no response from the girl.

She was out cold.

Naruto's eyes locked with Kaeda who showed no sign of his earlier cockiness or amusement. His expression was set stern. More and more, Naruto began to realise how bad the situation really was. Hinata was down, and without her they didn't stand a chance. Kaeda had room to move now. So Naruto did what any twelve year old in this situation would do.

He panicked.

"Hoaaaagh!" Tossing caution to the wind, infused with anger and fear, Naruto charged the swordsman, battered sword at his side and ready to strike.

"**Uma Setsudan.**" He barely saw Kaeda lift and bring down his sword in a practiced strike, the speed being far beyond what Naruto could perceive. The pain was delayed, a sudden surge coming from the right side of his body and face.

The end of Kaeda's nodachi parted through Naruto's skin with ease, a deep cut leading from the top of his right eye all the way down to his waist. His chestguard didn't saved him from the worst, now ruined and in two - but it did its job. Blood ran from the wounds freely. Naruto tumbled to the ground rather unceremoniously.

All the while Kiba watched his friends get beaten down, one after the other. He froze up but his tansformed companion did not. Akamaru, in the guise of Kiba, charged on all fours and teeth bared - only to be met with a firm face full of sandal. Kaeda approached Kiba at a slow walking pace, readying his blade.

Kiba's eyes widened, his eyes following the positioning of the blade and his body reacting in turn. The blade swung in from his right, its horrid wail signaling his probable end.

Kiba brought his forearm up to level with his shoulder, muscles tensed in an attempt to stop the sword from swiping through him. The edge cut through his jacket's arm, the edge tasting Kiba's blood and muscle as it sank into the arm - but it didn't go all the way through. Kiba went flying from the force of the strike, a trail of blood following his landing into the dirt.

All three were down, but not dead. This was something Kaeda intended to amend. He looked to Hinata, out cold and leaning against a tree, and decided she would be first.

* * *

It was awake once more.

The ancient engine roared with power, relishing in the negative emotions which flooded its cage. While it could not see the outside world of its container, it could feel it. The container fought on, and was dying because of it. The warmth of the cage slowly began to drain away. It would not let its container die - not now. It had yet to experience what it was made to experience, unsatisfied.

It opened its mouth for the first time in a decade and spoke. Its words could be heard only by one, much like the power it now forced through boys system. It sent the containers body into overload, hastily sealing the worst of the injury and infusing itself in his muscles.

The biju would not see its host die. Not now.

* * *

The words were like thunder in Naruto's ears.

**FIGHT.**

How was he meant to do that against Kaeda? He'd already beaten him and probably Kiba by now.

**GET UP.**

For a second, Naruto thought of contesting the invisible voice - but his body did not. Newfound strength ran through Naruto's body, the pain on the right side of his body subsiding to a manageable level.

Naruto opened his eyes and pushed himself up. He felt...good.

**FIGHT. **

The orange chakra poured from Naruto like a fountain, coating his body. Kaeda paused, his blade only moments away from plunging through Hinata's chest. The sensation of dread which hit him was ineffable in its magnatude, a completely alien killing intent surging from behind him. He turned his head to stare at where he had been standing not a few seconds ago…

He saw Naruto, rising from the dirt. The suna nin could not believe his eyes, taking in the still present wounds of the Uzumaki boy. He had definitely cut deeper than the wounds he had - he shouldn't even have an intact eye! Blood soaked Naruto's right hand side, but it wasn't enough to slow him down. The worst of what he _knew_ he had inflicted on the boy simply wasn't there.

"...Jinchuuriki." It dawned on the young man rather quickly. He'd felt this sort of pressure before, from the only person in Suna capable of it. "Konoha sent a Jinchuuriki to deal with us. 'Ora." He drew a sort of sick amusement from this. If he'd known that, he'd have _avoided_ fighting Naruto.

"Kaeda." Determined, Naruto raised his katana ready to face the swordsman once again. His eyes betrayed no weakness to Kaeda - the boy had found his resolve. "You hate Hi no Kuni, don't you?" Naruto asked, not accusation in his voice at all.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I do. How'd you guess, Naruto?" Kaeda raised his own sword. He had to kill this boy now or everything went to hell. Suna hadn't prepared for a Jinchuuriki, let alone one they knew nothing about.

"I felt it, when we were fighting earlier. I could feel your conviction, your drive to fight against us. And I understood it. It was hate." Naruto spoke, not entirely certain what that was himself. Kaeda let out a huff of amusement. The phenomena of 'understanding through conflict'.

"Why?" It was simple enough of a question from Naruto. They began to circle one another.

"Shouldn't it be obvious?" Naruto's lack of response answered that. Kaeda continued, "Hi no Kuni and its Daimyo are tyrants. For twenty years, General Oda Hyuuga ravaged Kaze no Kuni and Ame in hopes of breaking them down and making them part of Hi no Kuni, all under the instruction your Daimyo. 'Ora." Kaeda's voice betrayed anger, his gaze intensifying and his grip tightening.

"And he nearly did it, as well. Kaze no Kuni was in economic and literal ruins because of Hi no Kuni. Lucky for us, he was tried for some of his actions and executed. He took the fall for the Daimyo. Then, Hi no Kuni has the nerve to set up a farce of a truce and trade agreement, draining our lands dry while we get very little in return." Kaeda took a deep breath. "Do I hate Hi no Kuni? No. I despise Hi no Kuni with ever fiber of my being. We fight now to be free of the shackles your people placed on us."

"I don't care about that!" Naruto shouted, baring his teeth at Kaeda. He didn't quite understand the implications of what Kaeda was saying, he wasn't the most politically minded of children. "I don't care. I'll fight you and Suna to defend my home - and my friends! Then I'll become the most powerful general, and no one will fight as long as I'm around! 'ttebayo!"

"Admirable dream! But I don't care about that either! I'm fighting so my people can live again!"

No more had to be said. Their dreams opposed, so it could only be settled in one final clash. Kaeda raised his blade, weakened by his right arm but not powerless. Naruto charges, his own beaten sword at his side ready to swing. Time came to a slow for the two combatants, realising that the greater of these two movements would decide the winner, no matter what.

"**Uma Setsudan!**"

"**Kage Bushin!**"

The force with which Kaeda brought his hefty Nodachi down created a razor sharp gale, cutting through the air and into the bark of one of the many trees surrounding them, shattering it. The sword cleaved through Naruto's own, snapping it at the base and sending the now-hiltless blade spiralling in the air…

But he did not cut any flesh. Naruto feinted to Kaeda's right, using the momentary resistance of his blade to accomplish the movement. He had either read Kaeda's inclined swing, or just guessed. Either way, he now found himself surrounded by five unarmed Naruto's, all charging him. Kaeda knew it then.

He had lost.

The first blow to hit him came from a clone directly in front of him, a direct punch to his face, followed by another clone jumping off of the first clones back to kick Kaeda in the jaw. Flying back, he knew there were still other clones to go through.

"U-ZU-" The two cried out.

Kaeda's spine burst into pain, the distinct feeling of a series of kicks sending him rocketing into the air. The sudden loss of control on the situation was surreal. Facing upwards mid air, he came to see another Naruto above him, something in hand.

"MA-KI!" The rest of the clones finished the boys name.

And then he felt himself being forced back down to earth by the last Naruto, something sharp, jagged and painful plunging through his chest. He down slammed into the ground with a 'thoom', dirt and dust being kicked up from the drop.

"SENMETSU!"

When the daze abated, Kaeda realised the broken blade now rested firmly in his lung. He could feel the life slipping away from him. Naruto knelt above him, blue eyes staring into Kaeda's dulling gold.

"G-good fight...'ora." The Suna nin still had some words left in him. Naruto just nodded in agreement, standing up right. "Uzumaki, listen to me." Kaeda tried his best to take a breath, but only ended up splattering blood at the sides of his mouth. Damn, death was scary.

"I'm done. Can't reach my dream dead, can I…?" He flashed a brief smile to Naruto, a ghost of his previous arrogance. "So you- so you better reach yours to make up for that, you hear that Konoha?" He hissed out between bloodied teeth. Naruto clenched his fists, staring at his handy work. The adrenaline was still running in his system.

"When I'm General…" Naruto started quietly, "I'll find a way to make sure the people of Kaze can live again, without this fighting! 'ttebayo!" He sounded so naive, Kaeda thought. He was just a kid, after all. He'd humor him for now.

"That's a big promise." He barely contained a cough as blood pooled in the back of his throat. Any moment now. "My sword." Kaeda nodded to the big thing still in the iron grip of his left hand. "Take it. That'll the symbol of your promise to me and the people of Kaze no Kuni. Fight with it for now, protect your home- but you better not go back on your word, Uzumaki!" He stared at Naruto, his head falling back to the ground.

"I'll never run away…" Naruto noticed how Kaeda's expression seemed to go blank, but he never stopped looking at Naruto. "and I'll never go back on my word. That's the way I'll live my life, 'ttebayo."

Naruto took the colossal blade from Kaeda's cold grip, unhooked the scabbard from his limp body and sheathed it. The thing was heavy, probably too heavy for him to practically use in combat and he hadn't even tried giving it a swing. To make things more awkward, the thing was as long as he was tall, if not more.

The gigantic blade now hooked to his lower back, Naruto trundled his way between his two down teammates and Akamaru, placing them on the ground next to one another. After that...well. He fell to his rear in exhaustion, eyes forcibly shutting for a few moments. The adrenaline was gone, and so was that second wind of energy. He hurt all over. With the last of his energy Naruto open the small medical kit given to him by Tenten, and covered Kiba's wounds.

* * *

The young Uzumaki did not bother keeping count with how long they were sat there, but it was still night when he next opened his eyes to the sight of Izumo checking on his still unconscious teammates and Lee shaking him awake.

"Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun, wake up! How many fingers am I holding up?" Gosh, the boy wasn't being loud but it felt like he was being loud. His headache really didn't want any of that.

"Four." Naruto responded in a dull manner, letting out a groan as he tried to regain his bearing on reality.

"That's right! Very good, Naruto-kun."

Izumo scooted over to Naruto, kneeling to reach eye-level with him. "Naruto, are you alright?" The older ninja seemed a bit taken back by something, bringing his gloved hands to Naruto's face and check- oh, right. The wound he still had. Izumo prodded and inspected the area around it, nodding.

"M'fine…" Naruto said, still feeling like he should be asleep. "How're…-"

"They'll be okay. Kiba needs some looking at and Hinata just needs some rest. We need to get you guys back to the camp. The march won't be moving for the next day, so get some rest." Izumo placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, a reassuring gesture which did its job. Naruto wasted no time, immediately falling back to sleep.

Izumo looked over his shoulder to the corpse of the suna ninja. If he had to guess, that one was the leader of this contingent, a one thousand man commander at the least. As much as a relief it was to know that this small, rather annoying assault on the march had been cut off at the head, it just begged the question -

"_How in Naraka did they manage to kill him?"_

By all means, these three should have been dead if that was the case, and that's entirely his fault for leaving them to seek out the other ninja. The amount of dead surrounding the clearing, cleaved in half, told Izumo that the sword Naruto had suddenly seemed to acquire belonged to the young suna chap. If that was the case, then he'd arguably have no problem cutting down three fresh ninja.

Right?

He asked himself, his eyes drawn back to the sleeping form of Naruto. One factor stood out above the others, something so obvious that it'd be foolish for Izumo not to consider; Naruto used the power of his biju. He shook his head of those thoughts. This was a _good_ thing, Izumo told himself.

"Lee, pick up Kiba. I'll get Naruto and Hinata. We're going back to camp."

* * *

Two days later, on the plains of Mizumi no Hashi, late afternoon...

Sasuke stared at the man - no, the abomination before him bound from head to toe in chains. The only place the chains did not encompass was the things head and its 'heart'. Around him, thousands continued to fight in the bloodied mud field which had become the plains of Mizumi no Hashi. He, Ina-Shika-Cho, the abomination and 'W' had a little circle to themselves. Everyone knew better than to interfere with this fight.

"It seems that I have lost - so early too. Orochimaru had warned me of the Vice-Generals power, but I never expected this." Sasori of the Red Sands spoke calmly, his eyes staring forward at Sasuke. It's not like he could look at W if he so wished, standing behind Sasori with the end of the cocoon of chains in hand.

"...I certainly was not expecting such intelligent young ones, either. A Nara and an Uchiha, working together to figure out my secret."

"It wasn't really so much of a secret, as more there was something off with the placement of your core. It wasn't hard to infer from there that it was your 'heart'."

"Indeed? Very good, then." Sasori looked between the four. "Well, no point in making me suffer through the inevitability of an ungraceful end. You have earned your victory." The resigned puppeteer said with a faint smile. It uneased the Uchiha greatly, how easily he came to accept the fact that he had lost. It was both confusing and unsatisfying. He raised the chokuto which he had come to favor as a weapon over the two days, the end pressing against the core. Sasori squinted.

"Why?"

"Why what, Uchiha?" Sasori attempted to tilt his head but the chains only strained his neck. W had him wrapped tight, that was sure. The puppet master could not help but appreciate the silent ninjas handy work.

"Why is it that you're simply accepting your death? Why do you not fight to the end?" Sasuke seethed under the surface, but his words remained calm. Sasori seemed to see right through him.

"The 'end of life' can have many definitions for many individuals, Uchiha. I have accepted this situation as fitting my criteria for the end."

"You are not dead yet, General Sasori!" The rage leaked into Sasuke's voice, his Sharingan activating involuntarily. "You insult the soldiers who died under you, fighting tooth and nail until their heart finally stopped. The least you can do is do the same, for their sake. For their memory." Again, Sasori saw something.

"You are projecting, boy. I know all too well about the massacre of your clan and its murderers." He paused, allowing Sasuke to look over to W for a moment. The masked man did not even move. "You fight for revenge, no doubt, carrying the 'will' of your clan upon your shoulders - I have no such burden."

Shikamaru stuck a hand out to stop Chouji and Ino finishing the captured General off, shooting a cautious glance to Sasuke. They knew how touchy this subject area was, but to interfere would only draw Sasuke's anger to them. Over the past 2 days, they'd seen what the rage of an Uchiha was. Fire, it was fire. A lot of it.

"For me, the end of life is the embodiment of transience in this realm. As an artist, I have my own definition of art as well. Art is something which is both inherently beautiful and long lasting. The longer it lasts, the more 'artful' it is. That is what I sought with my life - with my body. To last."

"Then this is just another reason for you to struggle against this chains! To lash out and last."

"To you, maybe. Grace plays a part in art as well, Uchiha. I have only just entered my thirties and I am about to meet my premature end." Sasori mulled a little considering his words. "My life has been a work in progress which ultimately failed to deliver. The worst thing I could do right now is sully my pride as an artist and struggle ungracefully against the inevitable. My life ended the moment your Vice-General bound me to this extent."

"That's just an excuse. You're a coward, General. A man who is scared of dying for his belief!" Sasuke's accusation just made Sasori laugh, a pleasant and jolly sound from a dead man.

"I would say I am otherwise, but I will impart some wisdom to you before you claim my head, boy. Remember it well."

Sasuke squinted, listening.

"No one cares or ever will care about the way you view the world."

Cynical last words and a sickening squelch signaled the end of Sasori of Red Sand.

* * *

The battle was turning in their favor, ever since Sasori had been isolated by Sasuke's unit. Kakashi had watched it all from the HQ with eagle eyes, the vigilant Commander Asuma at his side. A couple of days earlier he'd ordered W to find and kill the enemy General, something which at least results in the 'finding' aspect if not the killing. The Sharingan-Eye was actually rather surprised when W returned a day later with empty hands.

This meant the Oto general was nothing to be laughed at, and he was only proven correct at the start of todays battle. A good few thousand members of the light infantry suddenly turned on their allies, moving in ways which no man should be able to. In the midst of the charge, they wrought chaos, nearly resulting in the wholesale collapse of the formations. In the middle of it all, under his and W's nose the entire time, was the enemy General, Sasori of the Red Sand. Somehow, the man had replaced an entire regiment in one night with his own puppets, perfeclty disguised and downright deadly. All the while he continued to direct the movements of the main Oto army from the front lines.

He'd earned Kakashi's respect, that's for sure.

For hours, he and Asuma tried to orchestrate the formations, ensuring that they could keep on fighting despite the loss of so many soldiers and with the cutting deeper into the flank. He sent W to deal with Sasori, expecting the man to wait for hours before finally finding the opportunity to strike…

But, today was a day of surprises for General Hatake. Sasuke and the Ino-Shika-Cho team, at the head of a 100 man unit, pushed back against the puppet charge in an arrow formation, slicing their way to the heart of it - to Sasori. The Uchiha had potential, if he had the ability to read the battle well enough to grab a pittance one-hundred soldiers and slice through in a straight line to cut off the head.

The problem for the young ninja was that this head knew how to bite. Hard.

Their effort had to be praised, as well as their abilities. For taking on a _General _and actually managing to challenge the man instead of being tossed aside like ragdolls. They destroyed the puppet that acted as Sasori's 'shell' with a very inventive Ino-Shika-Cho & Uchi combo, but quickly found themselves outmatched against the real deal. Well, as real as it got anyway. Sasori's actual body turned out to be a puppet as well. How disturbing.

Incredibly sharp propeller blades, highly durable body, intense fire and water stream shooters and a 'stinger'. Add that to his capability to control a seemingly unlimited amount of puppets, and you've got yourself a real monster on your hands. Two things were in favour of the young ninja, though. One, the puppets were preoccupied with the one hundred man unit. Two, W was there to save them when things started to get rough.

Admittedly, the bulk of the fight was W against Sasori, but the kids deserved their recognition. It was a good learning experience for them as well! They got to watch two General class enemies fight to the death!

Of course, W had to hold back on the puppet general. That mask of his kept him from using some of his more offensive techniques. He was restricted to his chain spike and physical abilities, but that was more than enough for most enemies. It amazed Kakashi still how effective he was with that thing.

But back to the now. Their general was dead, made clear from the sudden absence of puppet soldiers, and W had given the rights of the kill over to Sasuke and his three friends. It was an interesting choice from Kakashi's perspective. Killing a General was a sure-fire way to get yourself a boat-load of recognition hefty promotion. If Sasuke and friends deserved it was another matter, no one would care if they heard 'Sasuke, the Last Uchiha, killed Sasori of the Red Sand, murderer of the Sandaime Kazekage', it just had too much pull to it.

This was all well and dandy, yet something stuck out to the white-haired ninja. Sasori abandoned Suna over fifteen years ago when the truce with Hi no Kuni was established and had since been acting as a 'Wandering General'. These were the sorts of powerful warriors who abandoned their nation for one reason or another and found themselves without any permanent home. They were, in a sense, generals for hire. They worked with smaller nations more often than not, making up for their lack of General-class individuals.

Oto did not lack those - that much he knew from the spy network Konoha had going. So why would Orochimaru and his puppet Daimyo waste money hiring an infamous and probably costly fellow like Sasori? Not everything added up and a few potential scenarios came to mind, but it was all conjecture. It would probably remain just that with Sasori dead.

To borrow a phrase from Shikaku: How troublesome.

* * *

_Meanwhile, at Mountain Tsume's Fortress…_

Thwack!

Sakura stumbled to the side, dazed, eventually falling to her knee. A coat of sweat covered her exposed arms and face, her breaths laboured. She hurt all over, but it was necessary. She stood once more, bringing her training naginata to bear. Her now-mentor and training partner Tenten stood before her, her own training weapon ready. She watched Sakura with a small smirk, the blow which dazed the recruit being her handy work.

"You're not reading my shoulder and leg movements well enough! Stop focusing on my face and take in my whole body. You'll never see my attack coming if you're trying to look me in the eye." She reprimanded. "Bring your feet closer."

Sakura did as instructed. This was something she'd requested of Tenten after her first deployment into Hi no Kusa, an event that could have ended terribly for Sakura if it were not for Shino, Neji and Tenten. She killed, and was then nearly killed. She realised very quickly that she simply was not ready for the battlefield - she had the brains, but her physical capabilities were outmatched by any other ninja, even most footsoldiers had the edge on her.

So, after she had recovered from the traumatic experience that was her first battle, she went to Tenten with the request; to make her stronger. Tenten was her superior in every way, that was something she gleaned from watching her during the skirmish. Every weapon was just that in her hands, a weapon. Efficiency at its finest.

And so she found herself in one of the few training grounds in the base, being beaten around by Tenten. It was painful, but it was working. Each day that passed, she could feel her muscles learning the movements - dedicating them to their own memory like she would words on paper. For the first time in her life, Sakura Haruno felt truly driven.

Tenten sighed after watching Sakura for a moment. "Alright, alright. I think that's enough, Sakura. Take ten." Sakura immediately relaxed, planting the naginata in the ground and leaning on it for support. Tenten ran a tough ship.

"T-thanks." Sakura groaned out, feeling the adrenaline fade, only to be replaced by the punishing pain in her muscles and bruises. "How did I do?"

"Better! Admittedly better. I could still knock the weapon out of your hand if I wanted, but it's better than when I did it without trying." She...praised? Kind of. It was backhanded, but it meant something to Sakura none the less. The pinkette smiled at her mentor.

"Where'd you think I need to get better?"

"Kind of question is that? Everywhere. You're new to fighting, and you don't really have a talent for it as far as I can tell." Sakura's smile faltered. Tenten tilted her head, the slight change not lost on her. "That does not mean you'll never be good, though. You know what they say about the myth of talent, don't you?"

"Yeah… it's just hard work." Sakura nodded, Tenten's words helping somewhat. The problem was that she didn't have the time to work at it. The next battle could be in a few minutes and she'd feel completely unprepared.

"Exactly. The only reason I'm as good as I am is because I worked hard all the time, and I've got a year of practical experience under belt. We'll see where you are in a years time, yeah?" Sakura nodded, arching her back up right and stretching her arms outwards with a groan.

"Lieutenant Tenten, Haruno." The voice of Neji Hyuuga drew the attention of the two, approaching them from the direction of the forts center.

"Captain!/Neji!" The two said in unison, the pinkette giving a weak fist-to-chest salute and the other just smiling widely.

"Training again?" The commander asked, his wide pearl eyes looking between the two. The two nodded, to which he returned. "I have important news regarding our movements in the coming weeks." There was something off in the way Neji spoke, a slight tenseness to it. This was not unmissed by the two girls, causing them to straighten up. This was serious.

"As of two days from now, the Northern Army will begin operations to annex Kusagakure and Hi no Kusa."

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start, his upper-body shooting up. Yeah, he probably shouldn't have done that.

It felt like he'd been running for days while carrying weights at the same time! Everything from head to toe just felt sore, and not the satisfying kind of sore where it felt productive either. He immediately lay back down with a loud groan, squinting his blue eyes up at the off-green sky above him.

That wasn't the sky, that was the tent. The events of when he was last awake came flooding back to him - arrows, ambush, killing, Kaeda, killing. One after the other, it was like a lucid dream. He rolled over on his mat, pulling the covers up. It was the middle of the day, warm and humid but he just didn't care about that right now. Something felt different, and he wasn't sure if it was good or not.

"Naruto?"

The sound of the tents flaps parting jostled Naruto back to reality, looking over the covers and to the glaring sunlight coming from the entrance. Someone stood in the way of it.

"Finally awake, huh?" Captain Izumo, no mistaking that kind voice. A grin found its way onto Naruto's face, as well as a stinging pain from the right side of his face.

"Captain! Is everyone alright?!" Naruto was happy to see Izumo, but the last thing he remembered was seeing Hinata and Kiba out cold.

"Yes, yes. They're fine, Naruto. It's thanks to you if what I heard from them is correct." Izumo crossed his arms, smiling. "From what I understand, you three took down a one-thousand man commander."

Naruto shook his head. "Two-thousand!" He corrected, shuffling a little bit on the mattress to regain some feeling besides pain in his body. Izumo blinked, brow raised. They'd taken down someone who, technically, should have been his superior?

"Guess the promotion wasn't unjustified, then." Izumo mused. It took Naruto a moment to register just what his Captain had said.

"P-promotion?!" The blonde leaned forward with wide eyes, "We got promoted?"

"Kiba did, and you by proxy. He's the commander of your new one-hundred man unit - ah, but you're all still under my command!"

And just like that, Kiba had a 100 soldier advantage on Naruto.

* * *

Battle Stats (End of The Call)

Western Army

_**Naruto Uzumaki**_

**Strength:** 40+

**Leadership:** 35+

**Knowledge:** 10 (Bad!)

**Special Ability:** Uzumaki Senmetsu (Uzumaki Annihilation)

_**Hinata Hyuuga**_

**Strength:** 55 (You wouldn't think it!)

**Leadership:** 10

**Knowledge:** 50

**Special Ability:** Gentle Fist

_**Kiba Inuzaka**_

**Strength:** 45+

**Leadership:** 50

**Knowledge:** 15 (Also bad!)

**Special Ability:** Gatsuga/Man-Beast Transformation

_**Lee**_

**Strength:** 65 (!)

**Leadership:** 20

**Knowledge:** 30

**Special Ability:** ?

_**Kotetsu & Izumo**_

**Strength:** 75

**Leadership:** 80

**Knowledge:** 80

**Special Ability:** Dual Cleave

_**Shikaku Nara**_

**Strength:** 80

**Leadership:** 92

**Knowledge:** 100+

Out of the main group, Lee and Hinata are evidently the most skilful and powerful, but it's Kiba with all the leadership ability. Naruto is sort of in a bad sport compared to his peers, but that will change. As a note, the '+' indicates that there are times where this number increases.

As a teaser for next chapter...

_**Sabaku no Gaara**_

**Strength:** 70+

**Leadership:** 10*

**Knowledge:** 40

**Special Ability:** ?


End file.
